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INDEX 



Page 



I'Drevvord •> 

IntrodiKtion 5 

Tulliallan !) 

At His Ik'dside 31 

The Prostrate Juniper 40 

( )ut of the Ashes 51 

Wayside Destiny 64 

The Holly Tree 77 

The Second Run of the Sap 9G 

I'.lack Chief's l)au<,^htcr 108 

The ( Gorilla 123 

The Indian's Twilight 135 

Hugh ( iihson's Captivity 147 

( iirty's Xotch 1 f)l 

I 'oplar ( ieorge 175 

Black Alice Dunhar ISO 

Altrani .Antoine, Had Indian 199 

Do Vou Believe in Ghosts? 319 

A Stone's Throw 334 

The Turning of the Belt 247 

kiding His Pony 3G5 

The Little Postmistress 271 

The Silent Friend 290 

The Fountain of ^'outh 298 

Compensatifjns 310 

A M isunderstancking ;j2() 

A I 'auntcd 1 lnusc 33!> 



Allegheny Episodes 

Folk Lore and Legends Collected in 
Northern and Western Pennsylvania 

By HENRY W. SHOEMAKER 
Volume XI Pennsylvania Folk Lore Series 




■m 



"The country east of the Mississippi was inliabited by a very 
powerful nation. * * * Those people called themselves Alli- 
gewi. * * * The Alleglreny River and Mountains liave been 
named after them. * * * xhe Lienni-Lenape still call the 
river Alligewi Sipu, the river of the Alligewi, but it is generally 
known by its Iroquois name — Ohe-Yu — which the French liad lit- 
erally translated into L.a Belle Kiviere, The Beautiful Kiver, 
though a branch of it retains the ancient name Allegheny," 

— John Hcckewelder. 



ALTOONA, I'KXXSYLVANIA 

Published by the A'tooini Tribune Company 

I'Jii 

Copyright: All Kights Reserved. 



Fiso 



HQ^' ^5 



i922 J 



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©C1.AG92079 



Foreword 



THE author tells me that I was his discoverer, 
and that without a discoverer we cannot do any- 
thing. Very true; one American author had to 
write till he was fort>'-eight, and then be discovered in 
Japan. Henry W. Shoemaker was discovered nearer 
home, and by a humbler scholar. 

In my last foreword I emphasized the value of 
folk-lore. Its significance grows upon me with age. 
I have now come to regard it as a kind of appendix 
to Scripture. Outside of mere magic, an abuse of 
correspondences, as Swedenborg calls it, there is in 
folk-lore a digest of the spiritual insight of the plain 
people. It also contains actual facts boiled to rags. 
For instance, in 1919 the dying Horace Traubel saw 
in vision his life-long idol, Walt Whitman, and the 
ripparition was also seen by Colonel Cosgrave, who felt 
a shock when it touched him. 

The flimsy modern paper whereon the scientific 
cccount of this is printed will soon perish, and then 
there will be nothing left but loose literary references 
and memories to witness that it happened. Any skeptic 
can challenge these, and the apparition will become 
folk-lore. As it is in its scientific setting in the Journal 
of the American Society for Psychical Research for 
1921, it is a side light on the Transfiguration. For 
if Whitman appeared to Traubel in 1919, and Sweden- 
borg appeared to Andrew Jackson Davis in 1844, why 
should not the great predecessors of Christ appear also 
to him? 



Such is the value of folk-lore, and for this reason 
the Armenian Church did well to attach an appendix of 
apocrypha to the Holy Gospel. In such a document as 
the uncanonical Gospel of "Peter" (this was not one 
of tl)c Armenian selections, but it ought to have been, 
in .sj)ite of the.fact that the Mother Church of Syria 
had suppressed it.) the life of Christ is seen in a dis- 
solviii},' view, blending with the folk-lore of the time; 
antl let us hope that sottie day this valuable piece of 
ancient thought will, be printed with the New Testa- 
ment instead of some of the unimportant matter that 
too often accompanies it. 

Albert J. Edmunds. 
Till-: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 
Philadelphia, March 1, 1921. 



Introduction 

IT is a good thing to make resolves, but a better 
thing, once having made them, to keep them. On 
two previous occasions the compiler of the present 
volume has stated his resolve in prefaces to issue no 
no more books of the kind, but has gone ahead and 
prepared more. Probably the motive that brought into 
existence the first volume can be urged in extenuation 
for the eleventh, namely, the desire to preserve the 
folk-lore of the Pennsylvania Mountains. 

The contents of the present volume, like its prede- 
cessors, were gathered orally from old people and 
others, and written down as closely as possible to the 
verbal accounts. In order to escape ill feeling, as in 
the case with the earlier volumes, some names of per- 
sons and places, and dates have been changed. This 
has been done with the greatest reluctance, and only 
where absolutely necessary. The characters are real 
persons, and most of them appear under their rightful 
names. Many of the legends or incidents run counter 
to the accepted course of history, but tradition is pre- 
served for what it is worth, and the reader can draw 
his own conclusions. While some of these tales end 
unhappily, the proportion is not greater than in life 
as we know it, and the general ascendency of right 
over wrong shines through the gloomiest passages. 
Life could not exist, or the world go on, unless the 
majority of events ended fortuitously; it is that happy 
preponderance which makes "hope spring eternal," and 



ii so often rewarded hy a realization of the heart's 
desire. 

The various phases of the supernatural in the 
ensuing pages depicts probably a more normal condi- 
tion of our relationship with the unseen world than the 
crude and clumsy mcdiumship found in the big cities, 
and may j^resent a rational explanation of life "behind 
the dark curtain." 

There is certainly a spiritual life, and a purely 
spiritual (iod, and all the events of the soul are regu- 
lated by divine laws, which have only too frequently 
been confused with the physical life so subject to 
chance and reversion back to chaos. 

The origins of Pennsylvania folk-lore seem to the 
writer like a hajipy blending of Indian and European 
elements which would have gradually, had backwoods 
conditions continued, developed into a definitely Penn- 
sylvanian mythology. The fact that the writer had so 
many more legends in form of notes, which otherwise 
would have been mislaid and come to nothing, prompted 
him to break his resolve and prepare the present vol- 
ume. And, for good or ill, he has many more, dealing 
with other parts of the State. What shall be their 
fate? .Are they worthy of perpetuation as folk-lore? 
.Apart from the general idea of preserving legendary 
matter for future generations, there is the added reason 
that the heroic lines of some of the characters appealed 
to him. and, to save them from the oblivion of the 
"forgotten millions," their careers have been herein 
recorded. 

Probably one-half of the stories were told to the 
compiler by one lady— Mrs. W. J. Phillips, of Clinton 
County— who spent some of her girlhood days, many 



years ago, on the Indian Reservations in Pennsylvania 
and southwestern New York. 

Professor J. S. Illick, Chief of the Bureau of 
Research of the Pennsylvania Department of For- 
estry, is due thanks for securing many of the illustra- 
tions. Four of the chapters — Nos. IX, XV, XXI, 
XXII — are reprinted from the compiler's historical 
brochure, "Penn's Grandest Cavern," and the first 
chapter, "Tulliallan," was published in the "Sunbury 
Daily" ; otherwise none of the chapters of this book 
have hitherto appeared in print. 

Persons interested in more intimate details con- 
cerning the origins and characters of the various tales 
will be cheerfully accommodated "for private circu- 
lation only." Like James Macpherson of "Ossian," 
iv can be said "the sources of information are open 
to all." 

The compiler hopes that through this book a more 
general interest in the Pennsylvania folk-lore can be 
created ; its predecessors have missed achieving this 
but there is always that hope springing afresh to "God- 
speed" the newest volume. No pretense at style of 
literary workmanship is claimed, and the stories should 
be read, not as romances or short stories, but as a 
b\ -product of history — the folk-lore, the heart of the 
Pennsylvania mountain people. With this constantly 
borne in mind, a better understanding and apprecia- 
tion of the meanings of the book may be arrived at 

The kindly reception accorded to the previous vol- 
umes, and also to "North Pennsylvania Minstrelsy" 
b} the press and In- a small circle of interested readers. 
if equalled by the present volume will satisfy the com- 



piler, if his anihitions for a wider field of usefulness 
are not to he realized. 

To those of press and public who have read and 
commented on the earlier volumes go the compiler's 
j^ratitude, and to them he commends this book, the 
tales of which have had their origins mostly along 
the main chain of the Allegheny Mountains and on 
the western watershed. Sincere thanks are due 
to Miss Mary E. Morrow, whose intelligence and 
patience in transcribing the manuscripts of this and 
the majority of the earlier volumes of the series has 
bad much to do with whatever recognition they may 
have achieved, and a pleasant memory to the author, 
ai well. 

Henry W. Shoemaker. 
Dei)artmcnt of Forestry. 
.State C'ajjitol. Ilarrisburg, 

February 23. 1023. 

T'. S. — Thanks are also due to Mrs. E. Horace 
(Juinn. late of Bucknell University, for her kindness 
in revising the proofs. 9-5-22. 




Tulliallan 



. . % Y 7"HY, yes, you may accompany your Uncle 
VY' Thomas and m}-self to select the plate which 
we plan to present to the battleship of the 
line, 'The Admiral Penn,' which the First Lord, His 
Grace, Duke of Bedford, has graciously named in 
honor of your distinguished grandsire," said Richard 
Penn. pompously, answering a query addressed to him 
by his young son. John. 

The youth, who was about eighteen years of age 
and small and slight, seemed delighted, and waited 
impatiently with his father for Uncle Thomas' arrival. 
Soon a liveried footman announced the arrival of 
Thomas Penn. and the brothers, after embracing, 
started from the imposing mansion in New Street. 
Spring Gardens (near the Admiralty Arch), accom- 
panied by the younger scion and a retinue of secre- 
taries, retainers and footmen. 

It so happened that the leading silversmith in 
the city, James Cox, was of the Quaker faith, to which 
William Penn. the famous founder of Pennsylvania, 
and father of Richard and Thomas, belonged, and was 
particularly pleased to be the recipient of this costly 
and important order. Tt was an occasion of such im- 
portance to him that his wife, sons and daughter had 
come to his place of business to witness the transaction 
and, perhaps, meet the aristocratic customers. 

9 



10 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

As they entered the establishment, the tradesman 
himself opened the door, bowing low as the two portly 
gentlemen, with their plum-colored coats, snufif boxes 
and walkiiij^ sticks, entered arm in arm, followed by 
ilie diminutive John, in a long, red coat, while the 
minions of various degrees waited outside, clustered 
ribout the gilded chairs. 

It must be understood that these sons of William 
1 enn were not members of the Societv' of Friends, but 
l;ad assumed the faith of their grandfather, the Ad- 
miral, and founder of the family fortunes, and young 
John was nominally a member of the same faith. 

The portly and self-important gentlemen were 
soon absorl^ed in studying the various designs of silver 
services, while the restless and half-interested gaze 
cf young John wandered about the salesroom. It was 
not long in falling on the slender, demure form of 
Maria Cox. the silversmith's only daughter. Clad in 
her Quaker garb and bonnet, she was certainly a 
picture of loveliness, almost seventeen years old, with 
deep blue eyes, dark brows and lashes, fair com- 
plexion, with features exaggerately clearcut, made John 
I'cnn's .senses reel in a delirium of enthusiasm. 

Ordinarily Ik- would have become impatient at 
the delay in selecting the silver service, for the older 
gentlemen were slow of decision and he was a spoiled 
child. I)ut this time he was lost in admiration and he 
cared not if they remained in the shop for the l)alance 
of the day. John Penn, hiinself, for a small lad was 
not unprepossessing: his hair was golden, his eves 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 11 

expressive and blue, his complexion like a Dresden 
china doll's, his form erect and very slim, yet few 
girls had fancied him, for he was selfish and not 
inclined to talk. 

Seeing that he was not assisting his elders in 
selecting the silverware, Mrs. Cox, the wife, and a 
woman of some tact and breeding, introduced conver- 
sation with the young man, eventually drawing her 
daughter into it, and it was a case of love quickly on 
both sides. 

When, after four hours of selecting and changing 
and selecting again, the Penns finally accepted a design 
and placed their order, John had arranged that he 
was to dine with the Cox family and see the young 
beauty frequently. All went well until the day ap- 
pointed for the visit to the home of the silversmith. 
John Penn presented himself before his father attired 
in his best red velvet coat with gold facings, white satin 
knee breeches, pumps with diamond buckles, his face 
much powdered, and sporting a pearl inlaid sword. 
The elder Penn demanded to know the cause of the 
youth's magnificence, for ordinarily his Quaker blood 
showed itself in a distaste for fancy apparel. 

"To dine with Mr. and Mrs. James Cox and their 
charming daughter, whom I much admire," was the 
calm rejoinder. 

"What, what," fairly shouted the father, almost 
having an apoplectic attack on the spot; "dining with 
common tradespeople ! You must be in a frenzy, son ; 
we'll have vou in Piedlam." 



12 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

"I don't sec why you talk that way, father," said 
John, retaining' liis composure. "Are we so very dif- 
ferent ? 1 1 was only a few generations back when the 
Penns were plain rural yeomen, and Madame van der 
Schouk-n, or ( Irandmothcr Penn, your own mother, 
was she not the daughter of a Dutch tradesman?" 

"Don't speak that way, lad; the servants may 
hear, and lose respect," said the father. 

The lad had touched a sore subject, and he pre- 
ferred to let him keep his en^^agement rather than 
to have an expose on the subject of ancestry. 

The dinner and visit were followed by others, but 
.'!i honu' bihn's romance did not run smoothly, and 
''(• r|uickly realized that his father and Uncle Thomas, 
whose heir he was to be, would never consent to his 
niarria.s,'e with the daughter of a silversmith. Conse- 
([ucntly, a trip to Gretna Green was executed, and 
John Penn. aged nineteen, and Maria Cox, seventeen, 
were duly made man and wife. 

W'licn Richard Pvuu and his brother Thomas were 
apprised of what he had done they locked him in his 
room, and after night got him to the waterfront and 
on a ship Ixnind for the French coast. He was carried 
to Paris and there carefully watched, but meanwhile 
rupplied with money, all that he could spend. Tem- 
j)orarily he forgot all about Maria Cox, plunging into 
the gaieties of the French Capital, gambling and betting 
on hor.se races, the "sport of kings" having been only 
rcc«Mitly introduced in France, until he was deeply in 
debt. He be •.•lint- vcrv ill, and was taken to Geneva 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 13 

to recuperate. There he was followed by representa- 
tives of his creditors, who threatened to have him 
jailed for debt — a familiar topic in family talk to him, 
for his grandfather, William Penn, despite his owner- 
ship of Pennsylvania, had been arrested for debt 
many tinies, and was out on bail on a charge of non- 
payment of loans made from his steward at the time 
of his death. 

John wrote frantically to his father in London, 
■who turned a deaf ear to the prodigal ; not so Uncle 
Thomas. He replied that he would save the boy from 
jail and pay his debts, provided he would divorce his 
wife and go to Pennsylvania for an indetinite period. 
John was ready to promise anything; a representative 
of the Penn's financial interests settled all the claims 
in and out of Paris, and John Penn was free. 

While waiting at Lille for a ship to take him from 
Rotterdam to Philadelphia, the young man was advised 
to come to London for a day to say good-bye to his 
relatives. The packet was expected in the Thames 
on a certain day, but got into a terrific storm and was 
tossed about the North Sea and the Channel for a 
week, and no one was at the dock to meet the dilapi- 
dated youth on his arrival at Fleet Street. 

As he passed up the streets in Cheapside, to his 
surprise he ran into the fair figure of his bride, the 
deserted Maria Co.x-Penn. He was again very much 
in love, and she ready to forgive. They spent the 
balance of the day together, enjoying a fish ordinary 
at a noted restaurant in Bird-in-Hand Court. Over 



14 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

the meal it was arran^a-d that Maria should follow 
her husl)aiKl to America ; meanwhile, he would provide 
a home for her over there under an assumed name, 
until he became of age. when he would defy his family 
to again tear them asunder. 

None of John Penn's family had the slightest 
suspicion of anything out of the usual when he 
presented himself in their midst, and he returned 
quietly to Lille, where he remained until the ship was 
announced as ready to take him to America. He ar- 
rived in New York during a terrible tornado, in No- 
vember, 1T52. At Philadelphia he evinced little in- 
terest in anything except to take a trip into the interior. 
A.S he had plenty of money, he could accomplish most 
anything he wanted, and was not watched. On his 
way to the Susquehanna country he traveled with an 
armed bodyguard, as there were even then renegade 
Indians and road agents abroad. A number of less 
distinguished travelers and their servants were, for 
£afet}''s sake, allowed to accompany the part}". Among 
them was a man of fifty-five, named Peter Allen, to 
whom young John took a violent fancy. 

It was not unusual, for Peter Allen was what the 
Indians recognized as a gentleman, although he was 
only a cadet, or what we would call nowadays a "poor 
relation" of the proud Allen family, the head of which 
was William Allen, Chief Justice of the Province, a 
man about Peter Allen's age, and for whom North- 
ampton or Allensville, now Allentown, was named. 

Peter .Allen had built a stone house or trading 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 15 

post, which he called "TuUiallan" after one of the 
ancestral homes of the Allen family in Scotland, on 
the very outpost of civilization, twenty miles west of 
Harris' Ferry, where all manner of traders, hunters, 
missionaries, explorers and sometimes Indians con- 
gregated, where balls were held with Indian princesses 
as guests of honor, and the description of this place 
fired John Penn's fancy. 

The idea had flashed through his mind that Maria 
could harbor there unknown until he became of age, 
and some day, despite the silly family opposition, she 
would become the Governor's Lady. John Penn went 
to Peter Allen's, and not only found a refuge for 
his bride, but liked the frontier life so well that it 
was as if he had been born in the wilderness. Moun- 
tains and forests appealed to him, and his latent 
democracy found full vent among the diversified types 
who peopled the wilderness. 

Peter Allen had three young daughters, Barbara, 
Nancy and Jessie, whom he wished schooled, and John 
Penn arranged that Maria should teach them and, per- 
haps, have a select school for other children of the 
better sort along the Susquehanna. Peter Allen was 
secretly peeved at his family for not recognizing him 
more, and lent himself to. anything that, while not 
dishonorable, would bend the proud spirit of the Pro- 
prietaries and their favorites, one of whom was the 
aforementioned "Cousin Judge" William Allen. 

John Penn returned to Philadelphia, from where 
he sent a special messenger, a sort of valet, to London, 



16 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

who iiH't and safely escorted Maria to America. She 
landed at I'roviiice Island on the Delaware,' remaining 
in retirement there for a xjionth, until John could slip 
away and escort her personally to Peter Allen's. 

The <,Mrl was bright, well-educated and sensible, 
and found the new life to her liking, and her young 
husjjand loving and considerate. 

It was in the spring of 175-1 when they reached 
the stone house at the foot of the Fourth or Peter's 
Mountain, and during the ensuing year she taught 
the young Allen girls and three other well-bred chil- 
dren, and was visited frequently by her husband. She 
assumed the name of Mary Warren, her mother's 
maiden name, which proved her undoing. All went 
well until representatives of the Penns in London 
learned that Maria Cox-Penn was missing, and they 
traced her on shipboard through the name "Mary 
Warren," eventually locating her as the young school- 
mistress at "Tulliallan." 

The ne.xt part of this storj' is a hard one to 
write, as one hates to make accusations against dead 
and gone worthies who helped to found our beloved 
Peimsylvania ; but, at any rate, without going into 
whys and wherefores, "Mary Warren" mysteriously 
disappeared. Simultaneously went Joshua, the friendly 
Indian who lived at the running spring on the top of 
Peter's Mountain, and Arvas, or "Silver Heels," an- 
other Indian, whose cabin was on the slopes of Third 
(now called ."^hort ) Mountain, near Clark's Creek. 

It was in the early summer of 1755 when John 




\iK<.i\ wiiiTi; imm:s. \\ \kki;\ < (H ntv. mi 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 17 

Penii, accompanied only by one retainer, John Monk- 
ton, a white-bearded veteran of Preston, rode out of 
the gateway of the stockade of John Harris' trading 
post, bound for Peter Allen's. His heart was glad 
and his spirits elated for, moody lad that he was, 
he dearly loved his wife and her influence over him 
was good. 

On the very top of the Second Mountain he drew 
rein, and in the clear stillness of the Sunday morning 
listened to a cheewink poised on the topmost twig of 
V. chestnut sprout, and viewed the scenes below him. 
In an ample clearing at the foot of Fourth Mountain 
he could see Peter Allen's spacious stone mansion, 
where his love was prol)al)ly at that minute instructing 
the little class in the lieauties of revealed religion. 
They would soon l)e united, and he was so wonderfully 
happy ! 

As the cool morning breeze swayed the twig on 
which the cheewink perched, it sang again and again, 
"Ho-ho-hee, ho-ho-hee, ho-ho-hee!" in a high key, and 
with such an ecstasy of joy and youth that all the 
Avorld seemed animated with its gladness, yet Penn's 
thought as he rode on was, "I wonder where that bird 
will be next year ; what will it have to undergo before 
it can feel the warnub and suiiliglit of another spring?" 

He hurried his horse so that it stumbled many 
times going down the mountain, and splashed the 
water all o\er old .Monkton in his anxiety to ford 
Clark's Creek, lie lathered his horse forcing him to 
trot up the steep contrefort which leads to "Tulliallan," 



18 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 



though he weighed hardly more than one hundred and 
twenty pounds. He drew rein before the door; no one 
rushed out to greet him, even the dogs were still. He 
made his escort dismount and pound the heavy brass 
l-.nockcr, fashioned in the form of an Indian's head. 
After some delay, Peter Allen himself appeared, look- 
ing glum and deadly pale. 

"What is wrong?" cried I'cnn who was naturally 
as intuitive as a woman, noting his altered demeanor. 
"Can I tell you. sir. in the presence of your body • 
tjuard?" 

"Out. out with it. Allen." shouted I'enn. "1 must 
know )iow:" 

"Mary Warren has been gone a fortnight, we 
know not whither. She had taken the Berryhill chil- 
dren h(jme after classes, and left them about five o'clock 
in the evening. She did not return, and we have 
.searched everywhere. Strange to relate. George 
Smithgall. the young serving man wliom you left here 
to look after your apartments, and who accompanied 
Mary from London is gone also ; draw your own in- 
ferences." 

John Penn's fair face was as red as his scarlet 
cloak. Despite .Mien's urging he would not dismount, 
l)Ut turned his horse's head toward the river, lie rode 
to Queena.skawakee. now callc! Clark's Ferry, where 
there was a famous fording, and, accompanied by his 
guard, he made tlie crossing and posted for the Juniata 
country. Xear Raystown Hranch he caught up with 
the company of riflemen and scouts organized by 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 19 

"Black Jack," the Wild Hunter of the Juniata, who 
was waiting for General Braddock's arrival to enlist 
in the proposed attack on Fort Duquesne at Shan- 
nopin's Town, now Pittsburg. Black Jack was no 
stranger to him, having often met him at social gath- 
erings at Peter Allen's, and the greeting between the 
two men was very friendly. John Penn occupied the 
same cabin as the Wild Hunter, and he told him his 
story. 

"It is not news to me," said Captain Jack. "I 
heard it before, from Smithgall. He went through 
here last week hunting for Mary." 

Despite this reassuring information. Penn refused 
to believe anything but that the lovely Quakeress had 
proved false and eloped with the German-American 
serving man. Word came in a few days that the 
vanguard of General Braddock's army had reached the 
.Loyalhanna, and were encamped there. Captain Jack, 
with John Penn riding at his side, and followed by his 
motley crew with their long rifles — Germans, Swiss, 
Frenchmen, Dutchmen, Indians, half breeds, Negroes 
and Spaniards — approached the luxurious quarters of 
General Edward Braddock, late of the Coldstream 
Guards. The portly General, his breast blazing with 
decorations, wearing his red coat, was seated in a 
carved armchair in front of a log cabin erected for 
his especial use by his pioneers, who preceded him on 
the march. A Sergeant-Major conveyed the news of 
"The Wild Hunter's" presence to the General's Aide, 
who in turn carried it to the august presence. 



20 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

"I cannot speak to such a fellow, let alone accept 
him as a brother officer," said Braddock, irritably. 
"Besides, his methods of fighting are contrary to all 
discipline, and 1 want no Pennsylvania troops. Tell 
him that if he insists I will make him top-sergeant, 
and jjlace my own ofiicers over his company." 

Captain Jack was half angry, half amused, when 
the rebuff was handed to him via the sergeant major. 

"My father was a Spanish gentleman from the 
Minisink, and my mother a woman of tolerably good 
Hessian blood. I see no reason for such rank ex- 
rlusiveness." 

(Juickly turning his horse's head, the sturdy bor- 
derer ordered his troop to proceed eastward. 

"Don't act too rashly, Captain," entreated Penn. 
"General Braddock is ignorant of this country and 
Indian methods of warfare. He may have orders not 
to enlist native troops, yet without your aid I fear for 
the success of his expedition. Please let me intercede 
with him ; he will do it when he hears that I am your 
friend." 

"To the devil with him and his kind, the swinish 
snub," growled Captain Jack, while his black eyes 
flasiicd a diabolical hatred ; his Spanish temper was 
uncontrollable. That night, when Captain Jack and 
John Penn were seated at their camp fire at Laurel 
Run. a messenger, a Major, not a Sergeant Major, 
from ( General Braddock was announced. 

Saluting, the officer asked to be allowed to speak 
^^•ltb b)bii I'cnn, Esquire. Penn received the officer 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 21 

without rising, and was cooly civil throughout the inter- 
view, which consisted principally of reading a letter 
from Braddock, expressing deep regret "that he had 
not known that the son of his dear friend, Richard 

Penn, had been with Jack," and offering Penn 

the captaincy of Black Jack's company of scouts, 
" Jack to be First Lieutenant." 

Naturall}', Captain Jack was more enraged than 
ever, but he said: "Take it, John, V\\ withdraw and 
turn my men, who, you know, are the best shots in the 
Province, over to you. They would go through hell 
for you." 

"Never fear," replied Penn. and, turning to the 
Major, he said: "Tell General Braddock, with my 
compliments, that I decline to accept a commission 
which he has no authority to tender. As for my com- 
panion, Captain Jack (laying emphasis on the Captain) 
the General had liis decision earlier in the day. Good- 
night, Major." 

Thus terminated the "conference" which might 
have changed the face of history. As the result of 
Braddock's pride and folly, his defeat and death are 
a jmrt of history, known by every Pennsylvanian. 

John Penn was wretchedly unhappy, even though 
Captain Jack tried to console him, when he shrewdly 
inferred that "Mary" had been kidnapped by emissaries 
of his relatives, and had not eloped with a vile serving 
man. PI is heart was too lacerated to remain longer 
with the Wild Plunter, now that no active service was 
to be experienced; so. accompanied by Monkton. the 



22 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

veteran of Preston, he set out the next morning for 
the West Branch of the Susquehanna to the unexplored 
countries. 

Al W'atcrford Narrows they passed the Ijody of 
a trader recently killed and scalped hy Indians. 

"May I draw one of his teeth, sir?" said the old 
soldier, "and you can carr\- it in your pocket, for the 
old people say 'The only thing that can break the en- 
chantment of love is the tooth of a dead man'." 

Penn shook his head and rode on. For a con- 
siderable time Penn and ( )ld Monkton visited with 
Dagonando (Rock Pine), a noted Indian Chief in 
Brush \'alley (Centre County), for the young man, 
like the founder of Pennsylvania, possessed the same 
irresistible charm over the redmen. 

Years afterwards, in Philadelphia, speaking to 
General Thomas Mifflin, Dagonando stated that had it 
not been for his unhappy love afYairs, John Penn 
would have been the equal of his grandfather as Gov- 
ernor, and prevented the Revolutionary War. But his 
spirit was crushed; even a mild love affair with Dago- 
nando's daugiiter ended with shocking disaster. Reach- 
ing Fort Augusta, Penn became very ill ; a "nervous 
breakdown" his ailment would be diagnosed today 
During his illness he was robbed of his diary. lie 
reached Philadelphia in the fall, and almost inmie- 
diately set sail for England. lie remained abroad until 
17G3. when he returned as Governor of Pennsylvania. 
He arrived in Philadelphia on October 30, in the midst 
of the terrific earih(|uake of that year, and on Novem- 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 23 

ber 5, George Roberts in a letter to Samuel Powell, in 

describing the new Chief Magistrate, says : 

"His Honor, Penn, is a little gentleman, though 
he may govern equal to one seven feet high." 

Charles P. Keith has thus summed up Penn's 
career from the time of his first arrival in Pennsyl- 
vania : "He was one of the Commissioners to the 
Congress at Albany in the summer of 1T54, and made 
several journeys to the neighboring colonies. Never- 
theless, his trouble made him again despondent; he 
began to shun company; he would have joined Brad- 
dock's army had any Pennsylvania troops formed part 
of it, and perhapS have died on the field which that 
officer's imprudence made so disastrous. Some two 
months after the defeat he returned to England." 

On June 6, 1766, a brilliant marriage occurred in 
Philadelphia. John Penn, Lieutenant Governor, aged 
thirty-seven years, married Anne, the daughter of Wil- 
liam Allen, Chief Justice ; a strange fate had united the 
lelative of Peter Allen of "TuUiallan" to the husband 
of Maria Cox, pronounced legally dead after an ab- 
sence of eleven years in parts unknown. Commenting 
on this alliance, Nevin Moyer, the gifted Historian, 
lemarks: "The marriage was an unpleasant one. on 
his (Penn's) account, for he was found very seldom 
at home." It was during the wedding that a fierce 
electrical storm occurred, unroofing houses and shat- 
tering many old trees. 

It was not long after this marriage wiien a feeling 
of restlessness impelled him to start another of his 



24 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

iiiaiiN tri])s to the interior. This time it was given out 
that he wished to visit Penn's X'alley, the "empire" 
discovered in the central part of the province by 
Captains Potter and Thompson, and named in his 
honor, and Penn's Cave, the source of the Karoon- 
dinha, a beautiful, navigable stream, rechristened "John 
Penn's Creek." He managed to stop over night, as 
everyone of any consequence did. at " Tulliallan," and 
ijlept in the room with the Scotch thistles carved on 
the woodwork, and saw Peter .Mien for the first time 
in twelve years. 

.\ foul crime had recently l)een committed in the 
neighborhood. Indian Joshua, who iised to live at the 
running spring, had gone to Canada the year of Brad- 
dock's defeat (the year of ]\Iary's disappearance, Penn 
always reckoned it) and had lately returned to his old 
abode, lie had been shot, as a trail of blood from 
bis cabin tlown the mountain had been followed clear 
t(j Clark's Creek, where it was lost. In fact, pitiful 
wailing had been heard one night all the wav across 
the valley, liut it was supposed to be a traveling 
l)anther. Arvas. or .Silver Heels, had also come back 
for a linie, but, alter Joshua's disappearance, had gone 
away. 

".Ma) be he killed his friend," whispered Allen, 
looking down guiltily, as he ; poke what he knew to be 
untruthful words. 

"It is all clear to me now. .Mien," said Penn. "I 
should have believed Captain Jack, when in '55 he told 
me that m\ late wife was carried off to Canada bv 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES - 25 

Indians; the kidnappers came back, and for fear that 
they would levy hush money on those who had caused 
my Mary to 1)e stolen, murdered Joshua as a warning." 

Allen did not answer, but Penn said : "You have 
kept a pul)lic house so long- that you have forgotten to 
be a gentleman, and I do not expect you to tell the 
truth." 

In 1840 seekers after nestlings of the vultures 
climbed to the top of the King's Stool, the dizzy pin- 
nacle of the Third Alountain. There they found the 
skeleton of an Indian. It was all that was left of 
Joshua, who had climbed there in his agony and died 
far above the scenes which he loved so dearly. The 
hunters put the bones in their hunting pouches and 
climbed down the "needle," and l)uried them decently 
at the foot of the rocks. 

The King's Stool is named for a similar high point 
near Lough Foyle, Ireland, and there are also King's 
Stools in Juniata and Perry Counties. The North of 
Ireland pioneers were glad to recognize scenes similar 
to the natural wonders of the Green Isle ! 

A great light had come to John Penn, but he ac- 
cepted his fate philosophically, just as he had the abuse 
heaped upon him for his vacillating policy towards the 
Indians. He followed up his vigorous attempt to 
punish the Paxtang perpetrators of the massacres of 
the Conestoga Indians at Christmas time. 1763, by pro- 
mulgating the infamous scalp bounty of July, 1764, 
which bounty, to again quote Professor IMoyer, paid 



2G . ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

"$134 for ail Indian's scalp, and $150 for a live Indian, 
and $50 for an Indian female or child's scalp." 

There are not enough Indians to make hunting for 
bounties in Pennsylvania a paying occupation today, so 
instead there is a bounty on wildcats and foxes, wiping 
out desirable wild life to satisfy the politicians' filthy 
greed. 

b)hn i'enn returned to Philadelphia without visit- 
ing i'enn's \ alley or Penn's Cave or John Penn's 
Creek. He had seen them previously in 1755 when 
ihcy bore their original Indian names, and his heart 
was still sad. It was not long after returning that he 
again started on another expedition up the Susque- 
hanna, traveling by canoe, just as his grandfather, Wil- 
liam Pcnn, had done in his supposedly fabulous trip 
to the sources of the West Branch at Cherry Tree, in 
noo. A stop was made at Fisher's stone house, 
Fisher's Ferry. A group of pioneers had heard of his 
toming and ^ave the little Governor a rousing ovation. 
He felt nearest to being happy when among the fron- 
tier people, who understood him. and his trials had, 
like Byron, made him "the friend of mountains" ; he 
was still simple at heart. In the kitchen, seated by the 
inglenook. he heard someone's incessant coughing in an 
inner room. He asked the landlord, old Peter Fisher, 
who was suffering so acutelv. 

'AVhy, sir." replied I'isher. "it's an Fnglishwoman 
dying." 

In those days people's nationalities in Pennsyl- 
van'a were more sharply defined, and any English- 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 27 

speaking person was always called an "Englishwoman" 
or an "Englishman," as the case might be. 

"Tell me about her," said the Governor, with ill- 
concealed curiosity. 

"It's a strange story, it might give Your Worship 
offense," faltered the old innkeeper. "They tell it. sir, 
though it's doubtless a lie. that Your Excellency cared 
for this Englishwoman, and your enemies had her kid- 
napped by two Indians and taken to Canada. The 
Indians were paid for keeping her there until a few 
years ago, when their remittances suddenly stopped 
and they came home ; one, it is said, was murdered 
soon after. Arvas, his companion, was accused of the 
crime, but he stopped here for a night, a few weeks 
afterwards, and swore to me that he was guiltless. The 
Englishwoman finally got away and walked all the 
way back from a place called ^luskoka, but she caught 
cold and consumption on the way. and is on her death- 
bed now. I knew her in all her youth and beaut}' at 
Peter Allen's, where she was always the belle of the 
balls there ; she had been brought up a Quaker, but my, 
how she could dance. You would not know her now." 

"I want to see her," said the Governor, rising to 
his feet. 

It was getting dark, so Fisher lit a rushlight, an' 
led the way. He opened the heavy door without rap- 
ping. His wife and daughter sat on high-backed rush- 
bottomed chairs on either side of the big four-poster 
bed. which had come from the Rhine country. On the 
bed lay a woman of about forty years, frightfully 



28 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

( niaciatcd by suti'erin^. whose exaggeratedly clear-cut 
features were accentuated in their marble look by the 
pallor of oncoming dissolution. Her wavy, dark hair, 
jjarted in the middle, made her face seem even whiter 

"Mary. Mary." said the little Governor, as he ran 
tc her side, seizing the white hands which lay on the 
Powered coverlet. 

"John, my darling John." gasped the dying woman. 

"Leave us alone together," commanded the Gov- 
( rnor. 

The women looked at one another as tliey retired. 
'Ihe thoughts which their glances carried indicated 
' well, after all the story's true." 

They had been alone for about ten minutes when 
Penn ran out of the door calling, "Come quick, some- 
one, I fear she's going." 

The household speedily assembled, but in another 
ten minutes "Mary Warren." alias Maria Cox-Penn 
had yielded up the ghost. She is buried on the brushy 
African-looking hillside which faces the "dreamv Sus- 
c|uehanna," the Firestone Mountains and the sunset, 
near where travelers across Broad Mountain pass every 
day. John Penn returned to Philadelphia and took no 
more trips to the interior. Tie divided his time between 
his town bouse. 44 Pine Street, and his countrv seat 
"Lansdowne." 

During the Revolution he was on parole. He died 
childless, February 1>, IT!)."), and is said to be buried 
under the floor, near the chancel, in the historic Christ 
Chnrcii. I'hila(lel])hia. which bears the inscription that 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 29 

he was "One of the Late Proprietors of Pennsylvania." 
jMost probably his body was later taken to England. 
His wife, iicc Allen, siu'vived him until 1813. 

The other night in the grand hall of the Historical 
.Society of Pennsylvania in the Quaker City, a notable 
reception was given in honor of the grand historian- 
governor, William C. Sproul, fresh from his marvelous 
restoration of the Colonial Court House at Chester 
As he stood there, the embodiment of mental and 
physical grace and strength, the greatest Governor of 
a generation, receiving the long line of those who came 
to pay their respects and well wishes, Albert Cook 
Alyers, famed historian of the Quakers, mentioned that 
the present Governor of the Commonwealth was stand- 
ing just beneath the portrait of John Penn, one of the 
last of the Proprietaries. And what a contrast there 
was ! Penn looked so effete and almost feminine with 
his child-like 1)londe locks, his pink cheeks, weak, half- 
closed mouth, his slender form in a red coat, so differ- 
ent from the vigorous living Governor. Penn was also 
so inferior to the other notable portraits which hung 
al)out him — the sturdy Huguenot, General Henri 
Bouquet, the deliverer of Fort Duquesne in IT08 and 
1703; the stalwart Scot. General .\rthur St. Clair, of 
Miami fame, who was left to languish on a paltry pen- 
sion of $180 a year at his rough, rocky farm on Laurel 
Ridge; the courageous-looking Irishman, General Ed- 
ward Hand ; and, above all, the bold and dashing eagle 
face of General "Mad Anthony" Wayne. Such com- 
pany for the last of the Penns to keep! Though lack- 



30 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

ing the manly outlines of his fellows on canvas, who 
can say that his life had one whit less interest than 
theirs — probably nuuh more so, for his spirit had felt 
the tlirill of an iindyin,i( love, which in the end sur- 
mounted all difticulties and left his heart master of 
the field. 

Though his record for statecraft can hardly I)e 
written from a favoral)le light, and few of his sayings 
or deeds will live, he has joined an immortal coterie 
led down the ages by Anthonv and the beautiful 
Egyptian ([ueen, by Abelard and lleloise, Dante and 
Beatrice. Petrarch and Laura, Altieri and the Countess 
of Albany, and here in Penns}lvania by Hugh H. 
Brackenridge and the ])ioneer girl, Sabina Wolfe, and 
Elisha Kent Kane, and the s]iiritualist. Maria Fox. 
Love is a force that is all-compelling, all-absorbing and 
never dies, and is the biggest thing in life, and the story 
of John Penn and Maria Cox will be whispered about 
in the backwoods cabins and wayside inns of the Penn- 
sylvania Mountains long after seemingly greater men 
and minds have passed to forget fulness. 

But for a few lines in the writings of Charles P- 
Keith, 11. M. Jenkins, Xevin \V. Moyer and various 
Penn biographers, such as Albert Cook Myers, the 
verbal memories of 'Squire W. II. Carman. James Till, 
Mrs. II. E. Wilvert and other old-time residents of the 
vicinity of "Tulliallan," all would be lost, and the in- 
.«:f)iration of a story of overwhelming affection unre- 
corded in the annals of those who love true lovers. 



II 

At His Bedside 

WHEN old Jacob Loy passed away at the age of 
eighty years, he left a pot of gold to be divided 
equally among his eight children. It was a 
pot of such goodly proportions that there was a nice 
round sum for all, and the pity of it was after the 
long years of privation which liad ciillected it, that 
some of the heirs wasted it qiiickly on organs, fast 
horses, cheap finery and stock "^peculations, for it was 
before the days of player-pianos, victrolas and auto- 
mobiles. 

Yolande, his yoimgest daughter, was a really attrac- 
tive girl, even had she not a share in the pot of gold, 
and had many suitors Though farm raised and 
inured to hardships she w^as naturally refined, with 
wondcrfid dark eyes and hair, and pallid face — the 
perfect type of Pennsylvania ^Mountain loveliness. 

Above all her admirers she liked best ot all 
Adam Drum'heller, a shrewd young farmer of the 
neighborhood, and eventually married him. i nree 
children were born in quick succession, in the small 
tenant house on his father's farm in Chest Township, 
where the young couple had gone to live immediately 
after their wedding. 

Shortly after the birth of the last child old Jacob 
Drumheller died, and the son and his family moved 
into the big stone farmhouse near the banks of the 

31 



32 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

sulphurous Clearfield Creek. It was not long after 
this fortuitous m<jve that the young wife began to 
show signs of the favorite Pennsylvania mountain 
malady — consumi)tion. Whether it was caused by a 
deep-seated cold or came about from sleeping in rooms 
with windows nailed shut, no one could tell, but the 
beautiful young woman became paler and more wax- 
like, until she realized that a speedy end was inevit- 
able. Many times she found comfort in her misfor- 
tune by having her husband promise that in the event 
of her death he would never remarry. 

"Never, never," he promised. "I could never find 
}Our e<|ual again." 

lie was sincere in some resj^ects ; it would be 
hard to find her counterpart, and she had made a will 
leaving him everything she possessed, and he imagined 
that the pot of gold transformed into a bank balance 
or Government bonds would be found somewhere 
among her efifects. 

Uefore ill health had set in he had quizzed her 
many times, as openly as he dared, on the whereabouts 
of her share of the pot. 

"It is all safe," she would say. "It will be 
forthcoming some rime when \ou need it more than 
y<ni do today," and he was satisfied. 

As she grew paler and weaker Adam began to 
think more of AKira TT;unel. another cornel}^ girl 
whom he had loved when he railroaded out of Johns- 
town, at Kimmeltou, and whom he planned to claim 
as his own should "N'olaiide pass away. 




SCKNK IN SNVI)KK-MII)I>I.I>>VAKTII TAKK 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 33 

Perhaps his thoughts dimly reflected on the dying 
wife's sub-conscious mind, for she became more insist- 
ent every day that he promise never to remarry. 

"Think of our dear Httle children," she kept say- 
ing, "sentenced to have a stepmother; I would come 
back and haunt you if you perpetrate such a cruelty 
to me and mine." 

Adam had little faith in a hereafter, and less in 
ghosts, so he readily promised anything, vowing 
eternal celebacy cheerfully and profoundly. 

When Yolande did finally fade away, she died 
reasonably happy, and at least died bravely. She 
never shed a tear, for it is against the code of the 
Pennsylvania Mountain people to do so — 'perhaps a 
survival of the Indian blood possessed by so many of 
them. 

Three days after the funeral Adam hied himself 
to Ebensburg to "settle up the estate," but also to look 
up Alvira Hamel, who was now living there. She 
seemed glad to see him, and when he broached a pos- 
sible union she acted as if pleased at everything except 
to go on to that lonely farm on the polluted Clearfield 
Creek. 

By promising to sell out when he could and move 
to Barnesboro or Spangler, a light came in her dark 
e!>'e.^i, and though he did not visit the lawyer in charge 
of his late wife's affairs, his day in town was suc- 
cessful in arranging for the new alliance with his 
sweetheart of other days. 

In due course of time it was discovered that the 



34 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

equivalent of Yolaiide's share of the pot of gold left 
by old Jacob Loy was not to be found. "She may 
have kept it in coin and buried it in the orchard," was 
some of the verj' consoling advice that the lawyer 

At any rate it was not located by the time that 
Adam and Alvira were married, but the bridgegroom 
was well to do and could alTord to wait. Alter a 
short trip to Pitt-sburg and Wheeling the newly mar- 
ried couple took up housekeeping in the big brick 
farmstead above the creek. 

The first night that they were back from the 
honeymoon — it was just about midnight and Alvira 
was sleeping peacefully — Adam thought that he heard 
footsteps on the staiirs. He could not be mistaken. 
Noiselessly the door opened, and the form of Yolande 
glided into the room : she was in her shroud, all white, 
and her face was whiter than the shroud, and her 
long hair never looked blacker. 

Along the whitewashed wall by the bedside was 
a long row of hooks on which hung the dead woman's 
wardrobe. It had never been distui'bed ; Alvira was 
going to cut the things up and make new garments 
out of them in the Spring. .\dam watched the appar- 
ition while she moved over to the clothing, countmg 
them, and smoothed and caressed each skirt or waist, 
as if she regretted having had to abandon them for 
the steady raiment of the shroud. 

Then she came over to the bed and sat on it close 
to Adam, eyeing him intently and silently. Just then 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 35 

Alvira got awake, but apparently could see nothing 
of the ghost, although the room was bright as day, 
bathed in the full moon's light. 

Yolande seemed to remain for a space of about ten 
minutes, then passed through the alcove into the room 
where the children were sleeping and stood by their 
bedside. The next night she was back again, repeat- 
ing the same performance, the next night, and the 
next, and still the next, each night remaining longer, 
until at last she stayed until daybreak. In the morn- 
ing as the 'hired men were coming up the boardwalk 
which led to the kitchen door, they would meet 
Yolande, in her shroud coming from the house, and 
passing out of the back gate. On one occasion 
Alvira was pumping water on the porch, but made 
no move as she passed, being evidently like so many 
persons, spiritually blind. The hired men had known 
Yolande all their lives, and were surprised to see her 
spooking in daylight, but refrained from saying any- 
thing to the new wife. 

Every day for a week after that she appeared on 
the kitchen porch, or on the boardwalk, in the yard, 
on the road, and was seen by her former husband 
many times, and also her night prowling went on as 
of yore. The hired men began to complain ; it might 
make them sick if a ghost was around too much; 
these spooks were supposed to exhale a poison much 
as copperhead snakes do, and also draw their "life" 
away, and they threatened to quit if she wasn't "laid." 
All of them had seen spooks before, on occasion, but 



36 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

a daily visitation of the same ghost was more than 
they cared about. 

Had it not been for the excitable hired men, 
Adam, whose nerves were like iron, could have stood 
Yolande's ghost indefinitely. In fact, he thought it 
rather nice of her to come back and see him and the 
children "for old time's sake." But the farm hands 
must be conser\'ed at any cost, even to the extent of 
laying Yolande's unquiet spirit. 

The next night when she ai)])eared, he made bold 
and spoke to lier: '"What do you want, Yolande." he 
said softly, so as not to wake the soundly sleeping 
Alvira at his side. "Is there anything I can do for 
you, dear?" 

"S'olande came very close beside him, and bend- 
ing down whispered in his ear: "Adam," said she, 
"'how can you ask me why I am here? You surely 
know. Did you not, time and time again, promise never 
to marry again, if I died, for the sake of our darling 
children ? Did you not make such a promise, and see 
how quickly you broke it! Where I am now I can 
hold no resentments, so I forgive you for all your 
transgressions, but I hope that Alvira will be good to 
our children. I have one request to make : After I 
left you, you were keen to find what I did with my 
share of daddy's pot of gold. I had it buried in the 
orchard at my old home, under the Northern Spy, but 
after we moved here, one time when you went deer 
hunting to Centre County, I dug it up and brought it 
over here and buried it in the cellar of this house. It 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 37 

is here now. There are just one hundred and fifty- 
three twenty dollar gold pieces ; that was my share. 
The children and the money were on my mind, not 
your broken promise and rash marriage, which you 
will repent, and which I tell you again I forgive you 
for. I want my children to have that money, ever}' 
one of the one hundred and fifty-three twenty dollar 
gold pieces. I buried it a little to the east of the 
spring in the cellar, about two feet under ground, in a 
tin cartridge box. Dig it up tomorrow morning, and 
if you find the one hundred and fifty-three coins, and 
give every one to the children, T will never come again 
and upset your hired men. Why I have Myron Shook 
about half scared to death already, but if you don't 
find every single coin I'll have to come back until you 
do, or if you hold it back from the children, you will 
not be able to keep a hireling on this place, or any 
other place to which you move. Many live folks can't 
see ghosts; your wife is one of these; she will never 
worry until the hired men quit, then she'll up and 
have you make sale and move to town. Be square 
and give the children the money, and I'll not trouble 
you again." 

"Oh, Yolande," answered Adam in gentle tones, 
"you are no trouble to me, not in the least. I love to 
have you visit me at night, and look at the children, 
but you are making the hired help terribly uneasy. 
That part you must quit." 

That's enough of your drivel, Adam," spoke 
Yolande, in a sterner tone of voice. ''Talk less like a 



38 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

fool, and more like a man. Dig up that money in the 
morning, count it, and give it to the children and I'll 
be glad never to see you again." 

To be reproached by a ghost was too much for 
Adam, and he lapsed into silence, while Yolande slip- 
ped out of the room., over to the bedside of the sleep- 
ing children, where she lingered until daylight. 

Adam was soon asleep, but was up bright and 
early the next morning, starting to dress just as the 
ghost glided out of the door. By six o'clock he had 
exhumed Yolande's share of the pot of gold which 
was buried exactly as her ghostly self had described. 

It was a hard wrench to hand the money over to 
the children, or rather to take it to Ebensburg and 
start savings accounts in their names. But he did 
it without a murmur. The cashier, a horse fancier, 
gave him a present of a new whip, of a special kind 
tliat he had made to order at Pittsburg, so he came 
home happy and contented. 

Night was upon him, and supper over, he retired 
early, dozing a bit before the "witching hour." As 
the old Berks County tall clock in the entry struck 
twelve, lie began to watch for Yolande's accustomed 
entrance. But not a shadow appeared. The clock 
struck the quarter, the half, three quarters and one 
o'clock. No Yolande or anything like her came ; she 
was true to her promise, as true as he had been false. 
It was an advantage to be a ghost in some ways. They 
were honorable creatures. 

Adam did not know whether to feel pleased or 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 



39 



not. His vanity had l)een not a little appealed to by a 
dead wife visiting him nightly ; now he was sure that 
it wasn't for love of him or jealousy, she had been 
coming back, but to see that the children got the money 
that had been buried in the cellar. And at last she had 
spoken rather unkindly, so the great change called 
death had ended 'her love, and she wasn't grieving over 
his second marriage at all. However, he fell to con- 
soling himself that she had chided him for breaking 
his word and marrying again ; she must have cared 
for him or she would not have said those things. 
Then the thought came to him that she wasn't really 
peeved at anything concerning his marriage to Alvira 
except that the children had gotten a stepmother. He 
wondered if Alvira would continue to be kind to them. 
Just as he went to sleep he had forgotten both Yolande 
and Alvira, chuckling over a pretty High School girl 
'he had seen on the street at the 'burg, and whom he 
had winked at. 




III. 
The Prostrate Juniper 

WEGUARRAX was a young warrior of the \Vy- 
andots, who lived on the shores of Lake 
Michigan. In the early spring of 1754 he was 
appointed to the hody-guard of old Mozzetuk, a leader 
of the tril)e, on an embassy to I'ethlehem. in Pennsyl- 
vania, to prevail on the holv men there, as many In- 
dians temied the Moravians, to send a band of Mis- 
sionaries to the Wyandot Country, with a view of 
Christianizing the tribe, and acting as advisors and 
emissaries betwen the Wyandots and allied nations 
with the French and other white men, who were con- 
stantly encroaching on the redmen's territories. 

Weguarran, the youngest and the handsomest of 
the esocrt, was very impressionable, and across Ohio 
and over the Alleghenies, he made friends with the 
Indian maidens of the various encampments passed 
en route. 

The reception at Bethlehem was cordial, but 
not much hope was held out for an immediate desjiatch 
of Missionaries as the Moravians were anxious to 
avoid being drawn into the warlike aspirations of the 
English and French, preferring to promote the faith 
in ])acilied regions, as very few of them were partisans, 
but if they had a leaning at all. it was toward the 
French. This was due to the fact that the French al- 
ways understood the Indians better than the English, 

40 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 41 

were more sympathetic colonizers, and while many 
French Missionaries carried forward the tenets of 
Rome, there was no religious intolerance, and Mission- 
aries of every faith seemed to thrive under their lead- 
ership. 

While at Bethlehem and Nazareth, Weguarran 
was much favored by the Indian maids of those lo- 
calities, but did not wholly lose his heart until one 
afternoon 'at the cabin of an old Christian Pequot 
named Michaelmas. This old Indian, a native of Con- 
necticut, lived in a log cabin on a small clearing near 
the Lehigh River, where he cultivated a garden of 
rare plants and trees, and raised tobacco. All his 
pastimes were unusual; he captured wild pigeons, 
w^hich he trained to carry messages, believing that 
they would be more valuable m wartime than run- 
ners. He also practiced falconry, owning several 
hawks of race, goshawks, marsh hawks and duck 
hawks. The goshawks he used for grouse, wood- 
cocks and quails ; the marsh hawks for rabl-its, hares 
and 'coons ; and the duck hawks for wild ducks and 
other water birds, which fairlv swarmed on the Le- 
high in those days. He was a religious old nKin. al- 
most a recluse, strong in his prejudices, and was much 
enthused by the Wyandot embassy, giving his wan- 
ing hopes a new burst of life for an Indian renais- 
sance. 

He took a great fancy to the manly and hand- 
some Weguarran, inviting him to his cabin, and it 
was there that the youthful warrior met the old man's 



42 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

lovely daughter. VVulaha. She was an only child, 
eighteen years of age. Her mother belonged to the 
Original People and was also a Christian. 

Love progressed very rapidly between W'egiiarran 
and Wulaha, and as the time drew near for the em- 
bassy to depart, the young girl intimated to her lover 
that he must discuss die subject with old Alichaelmas, 
and secure his approval and consent, after the man- 
ner of wliite Christians. 

The old Pequot was not averse to the union, 
which would add another strain of Indian blood to the 
family, but stated that a marriage could only take- 
place on certain conditions. Weguarran, in his con- 
versations with ]Michaelmas, had told him of his mil- 
itary affiliations with tlie French, which had filled 
the old man's heart with joy for the hopes of a new 
order of things that it seemed to kindle. When he 
asked the hand of the fair Wulaha in marriage, 
Michaelmas "came back" with the following propo- 
sition: 

"Weguarran. I am getting old and feeble," he 
said. "I may pass aiway any time, and I could not 
bear the thought of my squaw being left alone, which 
would be the case if you married W'ulaha and took 
her to the distant shores of Lake ATichigan. How- 
ever, there are greater things than my death and my 
squaw's loneliness, the future of the red race, now 
crushed to earth by the Wunnux, as we call the white 
men. but some day to l)c triumphant. You have told 
me that witliin this very \car the French and Indians 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 43 

are sure to engage the English in a mighty battle 
which will decide the future history of the Continent. 
You can marry Wulaha right after that battle, if you 
are victorious; otherwise you can do as the Mission- 
aries tell us the Romans did — fall on your sword. 
You can never return here, as I do not want my 
daughter to marry and continue the race of a beaten 
people. I would far rather have her die single, and 
have our seed perish, for if this victory is not won, 
doomed is every redman on this Continent. The only 
wish of the English is to encompass our extennina- 
tion. Wulaha will remain at home until after that 
battle, when you can come for her and claim her as 
your own, and we will give her to you with rejoicing " 

"What you say is surely fair enough, Father 
Michaelmas," replied Wegu'arran, "for I would see 
no future for Wulaha and myself if the English are 
victorious in this inevitable battle. As soon as it is 
won — and it will be won, for the high resolve of 
every Indian warrior is to go in to win — T will hurry 
back to the banks of the Lehigh, never stopping to 
rest, sleep or eat, to tell you of the glad tidings, and 
bear away my beloved Wulaha. T want to ask one 
special favor of you. I have admired your wonaer- 
ful cage of trained wild pigeons, wliich you say will 
earn,' messages hundreds of miles. Lend me one of 
these pigeons, and as soon as the victory is won. I 
will release the bird, and while I am speeding east- 
ward on foot, our feathered friend will fly on ahead 



44 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

and end the suspense, and bring joy to yourself, your 
squaw and W'ulaha." 

"I will gladly let }Ou have my best trained pig- 
eon, or hawk, or anything I possess, if I can learn of 
the victory, but in turn I will ask a favor of you. 
I listened with breathless interest to your tales of the 
Prostrate Junipers which grow on the shores of the 
great lakes, which cover two thousand square feet, 
and are Inuidreds of years old. >'ou jiromised to 
bring me a scion of one of those curious trees, so that 
I might plant it in my garden of rare trees and shrubs. 
Now, here will be a chance to associate it with the 
great victory; pluck a stout l)ut small scion, and if 
the victory is w( n. affix it firmly to one of the pig- 
eon's legs and let it go. If it comes back without the 
tv.'ig of juniper I will know ttat our cause has lost, 
and while you fall on your sword, I and my family 
will junij) into the Lehigh." 

"I will gladly do as you say. Father Michaelmas," 
said Weguarran, "and will send a twig that will grow, 
and some day make a noible tree, and in years to come, 
our people will call it Wegiiarran's N'ictory Tree. The 
The fact that it is a Prostrate Tree makes it all the 
more appropriate, as it will represent the English 
race lying prostrated, crushed by the red race they 
wronged, and by our kindly and just French allies." 

Weguarran was so inspired by the thought of 
the pigeon messenger, the sprig of Prostrate Juni- 
per, and the impending victory thrit it assuaged bis 
grief at the parting from Wulaha, sending him away 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 45 

determined to give a good account of himself in all 
things. 

; Old Michaelmas selected a handsome cock pig- 
eon, with a dragon's blood red breast — his very best 
and most intelligent, and surest flyer, named Wus- 
kawhan, which he placed in a specially built, bottle 
shaped basket, which had no lid, ye!" the top was too 
small for the bird to escape. In this way it could 
rise up and peer out, as it was carried along, and not 
bruise its wing coverts or head, as it would if it flew 
against the top of a square basket with a lid. 

After a touching parting with W'ulaha, her 
mother and father, the young warrior went his way 
with his precious burden. 

The Indians, even old Alozzetuk, were rapid trav- 
ellers, and in due time they reached the country of 
the Prostrate Junipers on the shores of Lake Mich- 
igan. They arrived in what seemed like an armed 
camp, for all the braves had been called to arms, 
which plotted to drive Indians and French to the 
uttermost ends of the earth. 

Weguarran was quickly mobilized, and a musket 
in one hand and tomahaw^k in the (^ther, while on his 
back he bore the sacred pigeon, he marched toward 
liis foes. In the excitement he had not forgotten to 
slip into his pouch at his belt a sprig of the Prostrate 
Juniper, which would be the emblem of the English 
race prostrate under the foot of French and Indian 
■allies. 

In due course of time the army of which the 



4G ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

picked Wyandot warriors formed a part, iTtet their 
English foenien on Braddock's Field, completely rout- 
ing and all but annihilating them. General Braddock 
himself was shot from behind by one of his own men 
in the wild stampede, and the French and Indians were 
completely victorious. 

Surveying the gorey scene, every wooded glade 
lying thick with dead redcoats and broken accoutre- 
ments, Weguarran carefully opend! the panther skin 
pouch at his best, taking out the sprig of Prostrate 
Juniper. Then he lifted the handsome wild pigeon 
from its bottle-nosed cage of oak withes, and with a 
light leathern string, affixed the litde twig, on whidh 
the berries still clustered, to the bird's leg, then tossed 
the feathered messenger up into the air. 

The pigeon quickly rose above the trees, circled 
a few times, and then started rapidly for the east, as 
fast as his broad, strong wings could carry him. 

This done, Weguarran visited his chief, obtain- 
ing leave to proceed to Bethlehem to claim his bride, 
promising to report back with her on the banks of the 
Ohio as speedily as possible. The pigeon naturally 
had a good start, and by the next morning was Hying 
over the palisaded walls of John Harris' Trading Post 
on the Susquehanna. 

A love story was being enacted within those walls, 
in the shadow of one of the huge sheds used in win- 
ter to store hides. Keturah Lindsay, Harris' niece, 
an attractive, curly-haired Scotch girl, was talking 
with a young Missionary whom she admired very 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 47 

much, Reverend Charles Pyrleus, the protege of Col. 
Conrad Weiser. 

Unfortunately they had to meet by stealth as his 
attentions were not favored by the girl's relatives, 
who considered him of inferior antecedents. They 
had met in the shed this fair July morning, whether 
by design or accident, no one can tell, and were enjoy- 
ing one another's society to the utmost. 

In the midst of their mutual adoration, the din- 
ner gong was sounded at the trading house, and Ke- 
turah, fearful of a scolding, reluctantly broke away. 
As she came out into the sunlight, she noticed a hand- 
some wild pigeon drop down, as if exhausted, on one 
of the topmost stakes of the palisade iwhich sur- 
rounded the trading house and sheds. 

Keturah, like many frontier girls, always carried 
a gun, and quickly taking aim, fired, making the 
feathers fly, knocking the bird off its perch, and it 
seemed to fall to the ground outside the stackade. In 
a minute it rose, and started to fly off towards the 
east. She had reloaded, so fired a second time, but 
missed. 

"How strange to see a wild pigeon travelling 
through here at this time of year," she thought, as car- 
rying her smoking firearm, she hurried to the mess 
room of the big log trading house. 

The messenger pigeon had been greviously hurt, 
but was determined to go "home." On and on it went, 
sometimes "dipping" like a swallmv, from loss of 
blood, but by sheer will power keeping on the wing. As 



48 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

it neared the foothills of the South Mountains, near 
the village of Hockersville, with old Derry Church 
down in the vale, it faltered, spun about like a pin 
wheel, and fell with a thud. Gulping and blinking a 
few times, it spread out its wide pinions and lay on 
its breastbone — stone dead — the twig of Prostrate 
Juniper still affixed to one of its carmine feet. There 
it lay, brave in death, until tlie storms and winds 
shivered it, and it rotted into the ground. 

W'eguarran was a rapid traveler, and m forced 
marches came to the shady banks of the Lehigh in 
three or four days. He was so excited that he swam 
the stream. He brought the first news of the great 
victory in the west to the surprised ^Michaelmas and 
his friends. But where was the prized wild pigeon, 
Wuskawhan ? It could not have go:ie astray, for such 
a bird's instinct never erred. "Caught by a hawk or 
shot down by some greedy fool of a Wunnux" was the 
way in which old Michaelmas explained its non-ap- 
pearance. 

The news spread to the white settlements and to 
the towns, and there was consternation among all 
sympathizers with the Crown — with all except a few 
Moravians who were mum for policy's sake, and the 
Indians, whose stoical natures alone kept them from 
disclosing the elation that was in their hearts. 

"The English never wanted the Indians civilized," 
said Michaelmas, boldly. "They drove the Moravians 
out of Schadikoke and from the Housatonic when 
they saw the progress they made with our people; 




•*•■ . 



*4. 






V MAMMOTH SIIOKT -LKAF I'INK 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 49 

were it not for the Quakers in Pennsylvania, they 
would have had no plate to harbor; those of us who 
felt the need of these kind friends followed them in 
their exile, but we can never forgive tliat we had to 
leave the Connecticut country of our birth under such 
circumstances. I am glad that our enemies were 
beaten and annihilated. 

Weguarran was baptized, and he and the lovely 
Wulaha were married by one of the Moravian preadh- 
ers, and started for the great lake country, which was 
to be their permanent home. 

Michaelmas and his squaw were too old to make 
the long journey, but they were happy in their gar- 
den of rare trees and plants, the wild pigeons, the 
hawks of race, and the dreams of an Indian renais- 
sance. They lived many years afterwards, and are 
buried with the other Christian Indians at Bethlehem. 

Out in the foothills of the South Mountains, 
overlooking old Derry Church, in tlie fertile Lebanon 
Valley among the pines and oaks and tulip trees, a 
strange seedling appeared in the spring of ]756, dif- 
ferent from anything that the mountain had known 
since prehistoric times. Instead of growing u]iward 
and onward as most brave trees do, it spread out wider 
and greater and v^aster. until, not like the sym'bol of 
the Anglo-Saxon prone beneath the heel of French 
and Indian, it was the symbol of the all diffusing 
power of the English speaking race, which has grafted 
its ideals and hopes and practical purposes over the 
entire American Continent. .Nourished by the life's 



50 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

blood of the travelling pigeon that bore it there, it 
had a flying start in the battle of existence, and today, 
after all these years, bids fair to last many years 
longer, to be the 'arboral marvel and wonder of the 
Keystone State. 

Well may the Boy Scouts of Klizabethtown feel 
proud to be the honorary custodians of this unique tree 
with its spread of 2,000 feet, for apart from its cur- 
ious appearance and charm, it ha? within it mem- 
ories of history and romance, of white men and red, 
that make it a veritable treasure trove for the his- 
torian and the folk-lorist, and all those who love the 
great outdoors in this wonderful Pennsylvania of 
ours! 




IV. 

Out of the Ashes 

LAST Autumn we were crossing Rea's Hill one af- 
ternoon of alternate sunshine and shadow, and 
as we neared the summit, glanced through sev- 
eral openings in the trees at the wide expanse of Fulton 
County valleys and coves behind us, on to the intermin- 
alble range upon range of dark mountains northward. 
In the valleys here and there were dotted square stone 
houses, built of reddish sandstone, with high roofs 
and chimneys, giving la foreign or Scottish air to 
the scene. Some of these isdated structures were de- 
serted, with windows gaping and roofs gone, pictures 
of desolation and bygone days. 

Just as the crest of the mountain was gained, we 
came upon a stone house in process of demolition, 
in fact all had been torn away, and tlie sandstone 
blocks piled neatly by the highway, all but the huge 
stone chimney and ai small part of one of the foun- 
dation walls. Work of the shorers had temporarily 
ceased for it was a Saturday afternoon. Affixed to 
the chimney was a wooden mantel, painted black, of 
plain, but antique design, exposed, and already 
stained by the elements, and evidently to be abandoned 
by those in charge of the demolition. 

The house stood on the top of a steep declivity, 
giving a marvelous view on four sides, almost strate- 
gic enough to have been a miniature fortress ! 

51 



52 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

It was the first time in a dozen years that we 
had passed the site ; in 1907 the house was standing 
and tenanted, and pointed out as having been a tem- 
porary resting place of General John Forbes on his 
eastern march, after the successful conquest of Fort 
Duquesne, in 1758. Now all is changed, historic mem- 
ories had not kept the old house inviolate ; it was to 
be ruthlessly destroyed, perhaps, like the McClure 
Log College near Harrisburg, to furnish the founda- 
tions for a piggery, or some other ignoble purpose. 

As we passed, a pang of sorrow overcanue us at 
the lowly state to which house and fireplace had fal- 
len, and we fell to recounting some of the incidents 
of the historic highway, in military and civil history, 
the most noteworthy road in the Commonwealth. The 
further on we traveled, the more we regretted not 
stopping and trying to salvage the old wooden man- 
tel, but one of our good friends suggested that if we 
did not care to return for it, we shauld mention the 
matter to the excellent and efficient Leslie Seylar at 
McConnellsburg, who knew everyone and everything, 
and could doubtless obtain the historic relic and have 
it shipped to our amateur "curio shop." 

The genial Seylar, famed for his temperamental 
and physical resemblance to the lamented "Great 
Heart," was found at his eyrie and amusement cen- 
tre on top of Cove Mountain, and he gladly consented 
to securing the abandoned mantel. As a result it is 
now in safe hands, a priceless memento of the golden 
age of Pennsylvania History. 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 53 

But now for the story or the legend of the man- 
tel, alluded to briefly last year in the chapter called 
the "Star of the Glen," in this writer's "South Moun- 
tain Sketches." The story, as an old occupant of the 
house told it, and he survived on until early in the 
Nineteenth Century was, that General Forbes, on 
this victorious eastern march, was seized many times 
with fainting fits. On every occasion his officers and 
orderlies believed that the end had come, so closely 
did he simulate death. But he liad always been deli- 
cate, at least from his first appearance in Pennsylva- 
nia, though when campaigning with the gallant Mlar- 
shai Ligonier in France, Flanders and on the Rhine, 
participating in the battles of Dettingen, Fontenoy 
and Lauffeld, no such symptoms were noted. Al- 
though less than fifty years of age when he started 
towards the west, he was regarded, from his illnesses, 
as an aged person, Sherman Day in his inimitable 
"Historical Collections" states that there was "much 
dissatisfaction in the choice of a leader of the ex- 
pedition against Fort Duquesne, as General Forbes, 
the commander, was a decrepit old man. 

What caused his ill health history has not uncov- 
ered at this late date. It has been said that he was an 
epileptic, like Alexander and other great generals, or 
a sufferer from heart trouble or general debility. His 
military genius outweighed his physical frailties, so 
that he rose superior to him, but it must not be for- 
gotten that he was aided by two brilliant officers, 



54 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

Colonel George. Washington and Colonel Henry Bou- 
quet. 

His irninediate entourage was a remarkable one, 
even for a soldier of many wars. Like a true Scots- 
man, he carried his own piper with him, Donald JNIac- 
Kelvie, said to be a descendant of the mighty Mac- 
Crimmons; and his bodyguard w^as also headed by a 
Highlander, Andrew MacCochran, who had been a 
deer stalker on one of the estates owned by the Gen- 
eral's father. 

Forbes himself, being a younger son, was not a 
man of property, and Pittencrief House, his birth- 
place, was already occupied by an older brother, from 
whom, so Dr. Burd S. Patterson tells us, all who 
claim relationship to him are descended. 

The General was carried in a hammock, with fre- 
quent stops, from Harris' Ferry to Fort Duquesne, 
and back again, borne by four stalwart Higlilanders, 
in their picturesque native costunies, wearing the tar- 
tan of the Forbes clan. The deerstalker, AlacCochran, 
was the major domo, and even above the chief of 
staff and Brigade Surgeon, gave the orders to halt 
when the General's lean weazened face indicated an 
over-plussage of fatigue. 

It was late in the afternoon as the returning army 
had neared the summit of Rca's Hill ; the pipers were 
plaving gaily Blaz Sron, to clicer foot soldiers and 
wagoners up the steep, rocky, uneven grade, with the 
General in the van. The ascent was a har<l one, and 
the ailing commander-in-chief was shaken about con- 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 55 

siderably, so much so that AlacCochran was glad to 
note the Httle stone house, where he might give him 
his much needed rest. 

Old Andrew McCreath and his wife, a North of 
Ireland couple, the former a noted hunter, occupied 
the house; their son was serving in the Pennsylvania 
Regiment, which formed a part of General Forbes' 
expeditionary forces. The old folks were by the road- 
side, having heard the bagpipes at a great distance, 
eager to see the visitors, and catch a glimpse of their 
hero son. They were surprised and pleased when 
MacCochran signalled the halt in front of their door, 
which meant that the entire procession would bivouac 
for the night in the immediate vicinity. There were 
several good springs of mountain water, so all could 
await the General's pleasure. 

Permission was asked to make the house "general 
hearquarters" for the night, which, of course, was 
quickly given, as the old couple were honored to have 
such a distinguished visitor. There was a great couch, 
or what we would today call a "Davenport" in front 
of the fire, and there the General was laid, the room 
dark, save for the ruddy glow of the roaring fire, 
which illuminated every nook and corner, and made 
it at once as cheerful as it was warm and comfortable. 

The General's eyes were wide open, and he gazed 
about the room, while his faithful domestics watched 
him to anticipate every wish. When he was ill he ex- 
cluded his Stafif, but kept his servants with him, and 
they, v/ith McCreath and his wife, stood in the cor- 



56 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

ners of the room, liack of the coucli, waiting for his 
conunands. 

The piper asked if he could Hven his master with 
a "wee tune or two," but the General shook his head ; 
his sandy locks had become untied, and llai)ped aljout 
his bony face ; he made a motion with his hand that 
indicated that he wanted to be alone, to try and get 
some sleep. McCreath and his wife, and their stal- 
wart son, the other bearers of the hammock and lit- 
ters, and the surgeon of the expedition, Major Mc- 
Lanahan, who had slipped into the room, witlidrew, 
leaving the piper and MacCocliran standing in the 
corner back of the couch, to aid the General should he 
become violently ill in his sleep 

The General dozed, and the bodyguard became 
very tired, for they had had a hard march, and sank 
down on the floor, with their backs to the wall. All 
was still, save for the tramp, tramp of the sentry out- 
side the window, or the crackle of some giant bonfire 
in the general campground, or the barking of some 
camp follower's dog. The fire had died down a little, 
but threw great fitful shadows, like a pall, over the 
sleeping General, and caused an exaggerated shadow 
of his bold profile to appear on the wall. 

All at once, without the slightest warning, he 
jumped to his feet, with tic elasticity of a youth, 
and arms outstretched, seemed to rush towards the 
fire. He might have tripped over the pile of cord 
wood, and fallen in face foremost, had not the ever 
watchful piper and MacCochran, springing forward, 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 57 

caught him simultaneously in their strong arms. They 
did not find him excited, or his mind wandering, like 
a man suddenly aroused from slumbers. On the con- 
trary, he was strangely calm. He whispered in Mac- 
Cochran's ear: 

"Andy, I have seen my lady of Dunkerck. She 
came out of the ashes towards me. I rushed forward 
to greet her, and she went hack into the hearth and 
was gone." 

The General would say nothing further, but al- 
lowed himself to be laid out on the couch once more, 
and be covered with bufifalo robes, and while he lay 
quiet, he slept no more tliat night, but every minute 
or so kept looking into the fire. At daybreak, at the 
sounding of Sunachan on the pipes, he was able to 
start, and the balance of the march executed without 
incident. 

He reached Philadelphia in safety, but within a 
short time after arriving there he passed away un- 
expectedly, and was buried in historic Old Christ 
Churdh, where a tablet with the following inscription 
was erected in the Chancel by the Pennsylvania Chap- 
ter of the Society of Colonial Wars: "To the Mem- 
ory of Brigadier-General John Forbes, Colonel of the 
17th Regiment of Foot, born at Pittencrief, Fifeshire, 
1710, died in Philadelphia, March 11, 1759." 

MacCochran was released from the army, and be- 
ing enamored of the wild mountain countr\' in the in- 
terior of Pennsylvania, returned to the forests. Later, 
though nearly fifty years old, he enlisted and served 



58 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

through the Revolutionary War in Captain Parr's Ri- 
flemen. After peace was declared he 'boug-ht the little 
stone house on Rea's Hill from young McCreaith, who. 
had served with him in the Rifle Brigade, and lived 
there alone until he died about 1803. He said that he 
liked the place for its memories of General Forbes, 
and he was always fond of telling to his mountaineer 
friends when they dropped in of an evening for a 
smoke and a toddy, of his hero's exploits in peace 
and war, and more than once recounted the tale of 
the wraith which appeared to the General at the fire- 
place, (luring his eastward journey from Fort Du- 
quesne. 

General Forbes, he said, as noted previously, was 
a younger son, and had entered the army early in life. 
He had been too busy campaigning to nxarry, but not 
always too busy to fall in love. Yet he was a serious- 
minded man, and his romances were aJways of the 
better sort, and would have ended happily on one or 
more occasions but for the exigencies of his strenu- 
ous compaigns, which moved him from place to place. 

Of all his love affairs, the one that hit him the 
hardest, and lasted the longest, occurred after the 
victory of Lauffeld, won by Marshal Ligonier, when, 
as Lieutenant-Colonel, he was quartered with his reg- 
iment at Dunkerck, preparatory to embarking for Eng- 
land. Colonel Forbes' billet was with one Armand 
Violet, a rich shipowner, who resided in a mediaeval 
chateau, which his weath had enabled him to pur- 
chase from some broken-down old family, on the out- 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 59 

skirts of the town. It was built on a bare, chalky 
cliff, overlooking the sea, where the waves 'beat over 
the rocks, and sent the spray against the walls on 
stormy nights, and the wind, banshee-like, moaned in- 
cessantly among the parapets. 

\'iolet was away a good deal, and his wife was 
an invalid, and peculiar, but their one daughter. Ame- 
thyst Violet, w^as a ray of sunshine enough to illu- 
minate and radiate the gloomiest fortress-like chateau. 
She was under eighteen, about the middle height, sHni^ 
ly and trimly built, with chestnut brown hair, blue 
eyes, and a fair complexion ; her hair was worn in pufifs 
over her ears and brushed back from her brows, just 
as the girls are again wearing it today ; she was viva- 
cious and intelligent, and detected in the Colonel, de- 
spite his thirty-seven years, a man of superior per- 
sonality and charm. 

In the long wait, due to conflicting orders, and 
the non-arrival of the transport, Forbes and i\!methyst 
became very well acquainted, in fact the Colonel w-as 
very much in love, but would not dream of mention- 
ing his passion, as he deemed it folly for a man of 
his years and experience to espouse a mere child. The 
girl was equally smitten, but more impulsive .and less 
self-contained. 

Every evening the pair were together in the great 
hall, sitting before the fire in the old hearth, their 
glances, which often met, indicating their feelings, but 
the Colonel confined his talk to descriptions of military 
life, Scotland, its glens and locks and wild game, old 



60 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

legends and ballads which he loved to recite. He was 
particularly fond of repeating the old ballad of Bar- 
bara Livingston. 

One night while the wind was howling, and the 
spray was lashing against the castle walls, and the 
rain dashed and hissed against the panes, the time to 
retire had come, and Amethyst, instead of tripping 
aiway, sprang right into Forbes' arms, and lay her 
fluffy head against his bespangled breast. 

"You are the coldest man in the world" she sob- 
bed, looking up with tear-dimmed blue eyes." What 
have you meant all these nights, we two alone for 
hours and hours, your eyes on only the sparks as they 
swept upwards through the 'louvre,' and your thoughts 
only on battles and mountain scenery. I love you more 
than all the world, and yet you could not see it, or did 
not care. I can restrain my feelings no longer ; tell me 
the truth, for I cannot bear the suspense and live." 

Forbes revealed his love by holding her verv tight, 
and covering her wet, hot eyelids with kisses. "Oh, 
foolish, darling Amethyst," he said, "I love you just 
as much as you care for me. I have from the first 
moment I saw you. and hoped that the transport would 
never come, but I am twice your age, and battered 
by many hard campaigns, and while I think I could 
make you happy now. ten years hence I would be an 
old man, and you would despise me." 

Amethyst looked up into his sad, steady eyes, 
saying, "I don't care what happens ten years from 
now; we might both be dead. T love you. and I want 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 61 

you. I will give you a week to decide ; if you do not, 
I will jump off the highest parapet into the sea. and 
you can have yourself all to yourself, and prosper if 
you will with your stern Covenanter's principles." 

The Colonel, though moved, was too prudent a' 
Scot to capitulate. He took the case under advise- 
ment, and every night for a week, though chival- 
rous and charming, neglected to set the beautiful girl's 
mind at rest. Yet when he retired to his room, he 
paced the floor all night, for he knew that the exquis- 
ite girl could revive his youth. 

The fatal night arrived. Perhaps the result 
might have been different if Amethyst had reminded 
her lover of her threat. She was too proud to do so. 
and the Colonel, thinking that she had forgotten her 
rash words — to some extent at least — was mum, and 
they parted gaily, Amethyst darting out of the haV. 
humming the old love song of Barbara Livingston, 
as light on foot, and apparently as light-hearted as any 
carefree child. 

She was never seen again — at least not unti. 
Forbes saw her come out of the emibers at the lire 
place on Rea's Hill, more than thirteen years later. 

When the word came that her room in one of 
the turrets was empty, a general search was made, re- 
vealing the trap-door to the parapet open. In her 
haste she had omitted dropping it. From that Forbes 
knew that the worst had happened. When MacCoch- 
ran told it to him. standing pale and frigid by the 
ancient hearth, he tried to stroke his small military 



62 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

mustache, to show his sang-froid, but fell in a swoon 
on the stone floor, lying unconscious for a week. 

That was the beginning of the fainting fits that 
plagued him for the rest of his life, and the com- 
mencement of his distaste of life, which caused him 
to ask for active service in America, in a new and wild 
environment, far from scenes similar to the terrible 
tragedy of his love and pride. And yet, out of the 
fire, in distant Pennsylvania, had appeared the long lost 
Amethyst \'iolet, perhaps as a "warning" of his fast 
approaching end, to open the portals to that better 
world where they would be together, and all things 
be as they should. 

MacCochran, philosophic and superstitious Scot 
that he was, had many reasons for lingering in the 
little stone house. Often he said, when he sat smok- 
ing late at night, the shadows from the dying fire 
would cast dark shapes, much like General Forbes' 
bold features, on the walls, and lie felt tlie magnetic 
spell of 'his old Master's presence. I'erhaps out of 
the ashes would emerge Amethyst \'iolet, or her spirit 
self, and the lovers could be re-united before his eyes 
in a shadowland. 

But nothing ever happened so fortuitous, ajul the 
engraved likenesses of "Ronnie Prince Charlie" and 
Madame d'Albany, imhapj^y lovers also, which hung 
on either side of his Revolutionary rifle, above the 
mantel, looked down on bim as if in sympathy, for 
"his fidelity which had survived the grave. The long 
looked for visitations never came ; perhaps among 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 



63 



the vaults and cornices and lofts of Old Christ Church, 
where the General is resting, the reunion of the lovers 
has 'taken place, 'but wherever it has, the place is known 
only to the spirits of Forbes and the fair Amethyst 
Violet; there are no witnesses. 

And now the present owner of ''General Forbes' 
Fireplace," as he calls it, is waiting to set it up in some 
study or hunting lodge, beneath the skull and antlers 
of the extinct Irish elk, from Ballybetag Bog, where 
amid forest surroundings, in the dead of night, he can 
keep vigil like ]\IacCochran, after reading 'A'olumes 
of Quaint and Forgotten T^ore," and maybe be re- 
warded by a sight of the true lovers from out of the 
ashes. 




V. 

Wayside Destiny 

LIKE many natives of the Pennsylvania Moun- 
tains, Ammon Tatnall was a believer in dreams 
and ghosts. Even in his less prosperous days, 
when life was considerable of a struggle, he had time 
to ponder over the limitless possibilities of the unseen 
world. Probably his faith in the so-called supernat- 
ural was founded on a dream he had while clerking 
in a hotel at Port Allegheny, during the active days 
of the lumber business in that part of the Black Forest. 

It seemed that his mother was lying at the point 
of death, and wanted him to come to her, but as she 
did not know his whereabouts, was suffering much 
mental anguish. Just in the midst of the dream the 
alarm clock went off, but he awoke and got up with 
the impression that his vision had been real In the 
office he informed the landlord of his dream. Like a 
true mountain man, the proprietor merely asked him 
to come back as soon as he could, such occurrences 
being not unusual in his range of experience. 

At home, in the Wyoming \'alley. he found con- 
ditions exactly as reproduced in the dream. His sud- 
den coming proved the turning point in his mother's 
illness; she rallied and got well. During her conva- 
lescence, for Tatnall remained longer than lie had ex- 
pected, she told him of a story which her mother liad 

64 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 65 

told her of the straight dreaming of some of their an- 
cestors, pioneers of the North Branch. 

The woman in question, who lived many years 
before, dreamed one night that her daughter who lived 
in Connecticut, and who had married just a's they left 
for Wyoming, appeared to her with a baby in her arms, 
she said she herself was dead and she desired the baby 
to be given to the grandmother. As a sign of the real- 
ity of the vision, she placed her hand on the wrist of 
the grandmother, leaving a mark on it that could never 
be effaced. 

The grandmother took tlie long journey to Con- 
necticut and found that everything had happened as 
told in the dream. The child grew up, and became 
the wife of a well-known Methodist preacher, and was 
famed tliroughout Northern Pennsylvania for her good 
deeds. 

Tatnall gradually advanced in life, and became 
agent or traveling salesman for several wholesale lum- 
ber concerns. He had gotten his start by being po- 
lite to the manager of one of the companies who came 
up from Pittsburg every week and stopped at the hotel. 
He made a success as a salesman, and it was a mat- 
ter of quiet satisfaction to him that in ten years he rad 
sold 160,000,000 feet of lumber. Rut he had been too 
busy to marry, too busy to have a home ; was a driv- 
ing, pushing machine in the interests of his employers. 
Sometimes on the trains he met with intelligent peo- 
ple, but generally his associates were like himself, hu- 



66 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

man dynamos, but without his interest in the super- 
natural. 

There was one railway journey which he took 
frequently, and on fast trains. His westbound trips 
carried him through the most mountainous part of 
the country in the late afternoon, but there was gen- 
erally light enough to show the various asj^ects of 
the wild, rugged landscape. There was a little aban- 
doned graveyard, all overgrown, with an uneven stone 
wall around it, near where the tracks crossed the river 
bridge. Standing among the lop-sided and battered 
tombstones, the tips of some of the older ones of 
brownstone being barely visible, looking as if they 
were sinking into the earth, he would always see the 
figure of a young woman attired comipletely in grey. 
The train was always traveling so fast that he counted 
a different number of stones every time he went by — 
there were probably a "Baker's Dozen." 

For a long time he thought that she miust be some 
particularly devoted mourner, a recently bereaved wid- 
ow, but it did seem a strange coincidence that she 
should be there on the same days and hour that he 
passed by in the fast train. Once he called his seat- 
mate's attention to the figure, but the companion could 
see nothing, and laughingly said : "\\'li\-, you must be 
seeing a ghost." 

The word ghost sent a thrill tlirough Tatnall, and 
after that he said no more to anyone, but conceded to 
himself that the girl in grey was a wraith of some 
kind. Though the train did not pass close to the 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 67 

graveyard, and was always moving rapidly, he fan- 
cied that he could discern the ghost's type of feature, 
or imagined he did ; at any rate he had an exact mental 
picture of what he thought she looked like, and would 
pick her out in a crowd if he ever saw her in hailing 
distance. 

This had kept up for five years, and he began to 
feel that it was getting on his nerves ; he must either 
abandon that particular train or go to the graveyard 
and investigate. He chose the latter course, ana one 
afternoon arrived at the nearest station, via a local 
train. The graveyard was on the opposite side of the 
river, and there seemed to be very little hurry on the 
part of the boatman, who lived on the far shore, to 
carry him across. It was late in the faill. after Thanks- 
giving, and the trees were bare of leaves, and shook 
and rattled their ibare branches in the gusts of wind 
that came out of the east. 

He sat down on an old rotting shell of a dugout 
by the bank, watching the cold, grey current, for the 
river wais high after many days of fall rains. It was 
a dreary, but imposing scene, the wide, swollen river, 
the wooded banks and hills beyond, and back of him, 
high rocky mountains, partly covered with scrubby 
growth and dead pines. 

Finally, in response to frequent calling, he could 
see the boat launched ; it looked like a black speck 
at first, and gradually drew nearer to him and beached. 
The boatman was a tiny man, with a long drooping 
mustache and goatee, wearing a Grand Army button ; 



68 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

he was pleasant, but inquisitive, though he ''allowed" 
Tatnall could have no other business than to be a 
"drummer" bound for the crossroads store on the op- 
posite bank. 

Tatnall had remembered a small, dingy store in 
a hamlet, about half mile from the little cemeter}' ; he 
had intended going there as he wanted information 
concerning the families who were buried there. Per- 
haps he could learn all he wanted to know from the 
riverman, and save the walk down the track to the 
store, but for some reason held his tongue. 

The boatman's final remark was that it was strange 
for anyone to be willing to pay a dollar to be ferried 
across the river, when most people walked the rail- 
road bridge. It was trespassing on railroad property, 
and dangerous to do it, but it was worth the risk, 
many travelers thought. 

Arriving safely across tlie roily current, Tatnall 
paid and thanked the boatman, and started in the di- 
rection of the little country store. In front of the store 
was a row of mature Ailanthus trees, which seemed 
like sturdy guards over the old stone structure, 
which had once been a tavern stand. The porch was 
filled with packing cases and barrels. 

As Tatnall opened the door, he could see a num- 
ber of habitues seated about on crates and barrels. 
One of them, a white bearded Civil War Veteran, 
rose up, leaning heavily on his cane, and bid the 
stranger welcome. Almost before he had a chance 
to engage in conversation with the regulars, he glanced 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 69 

behind the counter, where he beheld a young woman, 
who had just emerged from an inner apartment be- 
hind the store room. 

In the dim half-hght, the dark aquihne face and 
meagre figure seemed strangely familiar. She was 
more Oriental than Indian in type, with that curly 
hair and wonderful nose, those thin lips, and com- 
plexion, the deep pink tone of a wild pigeon's breast. 
Where had they met before? For a moment'his mind 
refused to correlate, then like a flash, he realized that 
she was the counteri>art of the girl in grey who 
haunted the little disused cemetery so regularly. And 
the way she looked at him was as if they had seen 
one another before ; on her face was a look of mild 
surprise. 

Addressing some pleasantries to her, they were 
soon engaged in conversation, as if they had known 
each other for years. It was getting late, time to light 
lamps and fires .ait home, so the long-winded disserta- 
tions of the habitues were left off, to be continued 
after supper. One hy one they filed out of the store; 
if they had any opinion of the stranger conversing 
with Elma Hacker, the store-keeper's niece, it was 
that he was probahly some traveling man, "talking 
up" his line of goods. 

When the last one had gone, and the acquaint- 
ance had progressed far enough, Tatnall, leaning over 
the counter, confided bravely the purpose of his visit 
to the remote neighborhood. For five years he had 
been seeing a figure in grey, in the late afternoons, 



70 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

while passing by the Httle graveyard in the western 
express. No one else could see it, yet he was certain 
that his senses were not deceiving him. Did she 
know anything of this, and could she help him fathom 
the mystery? 

The dark girl dropped her eyes and was silent 
for a moment. She was hesitating as to whether to 
disclaim all knowledge, or to he frank and divulge a 
story w*hich concerned her soul. 

"Yes, I do know all about it, how very funny ! 
I, too, have had the power of seeing that figure in 
grey, though very few others have ever been able to, 
and many's the time I've been called crazy when I 
mentioned it. 'The girl in grey,' as you call her, 
strangely enough was an ancestress of mine, or rather 
belonged to my father's family, and while I have the 
same name, Elma Hacker, I don't know whether I 
was named for her or not, as my parents died when 
I was a little girl. 

"It used to make me feel terrible w'hen I was a 
little girl and told about seeing the figure. I hated 
to be regarded as untruthful or 'dullness,' but at last 
my uncle, hearing of it, came to the rescue and told 
me not to mind what anyone said, that, from the de- 
scription, he was sure I had seen the ghost. He had 
never had the power to see her, but his father, my 
grandfather had, and other members of the family. 

"It was a sad and curious story. It all happen- 
ed in the days of the very first white settlers in these 
mountains, when my ancestors kept the first stopping 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 71 

place for travellers, a stone fortress-like house, in 
Black Wolf Gap ; the ruins of tlie foundations are 
still visible, and folks call it 'The Indian Fort.' The 
Hackers were friendly with the Indians, who often 
came for square meals, and other favors from the 
genial pioneer landlord and his wife. The Elma 
Hacker of those days had a sweeaheart who lived 
alone on the other side of the Gap; his name was 
Ammon Quicksall, and from all accounts, he was a 
fine, manly fellow, a great hunter and fighter. 

"He would often drop in on his beloved on his 
way home from his hunting trips, at all hours of the 
day. One one occasion four Indians appeared at 
the tavern, intimating that they were hungry, as In- 
dians generally were. Elma carried a pewter dish 
containing all the viands the house afforded to each, 
which they sat eating on a long bench outside the 
door. 

"One of the Indians was a peculiar, half-witted 
young wretch who went by the name of Chansops 
He came to the public house quite often, being sus- 
pected of having a fondness for Elma and for hard 
cider. She always treated him pleasantly, but kept 
him at a distance, and never felt fear of any kind in 
his presence. No doubt his feelings were of a vol- 
canic order, and under his stoical exterior burned a 
consuming passion. He was munching his lunch, ap- 
parently most interested in his food, when Ammon 
Quicksall and his hunting dogs hove in sight. 

"Their barking and yelping were a signal to I'.lma. 



72 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

who rushed out of the house to greet her lover, per- 
haps showing her feehngs a trifle too much, though 
she had no reason to imagine she should restrain 
herself in the presence of the Indians. All the while 
Chansops was eyeing her with gathering rage and 
fuiy. When Elma took her lover's arm — she must 
have been a very impulsive girl — and rested her head 
against his shoulder, it was too much for the irate 
Indian. 

"He jumped up, firing his pewter dish into the 
creek which flowed near the house, and danced up 
and down in sheer fury. His companions tried hard 
to calm him, as they wanted to keep on good terms 
with the inkeeper's family, hut he was beyond all 
control. Quicksall and Elma were walking on the 
path which led along the creek; their backs were 
turned, and they little dreamed of the drama being 
enacted behind them. The other Indians, realizing 
that Chansops meant trouble, lay hold of liim, but 
he wrenched himself free with a superhuman strength, 
threatening to kill anyone who laid hands on him 
again. 

"Old Adam Hacker, Elma's father, finally heard 
the commotion and came out, and asked in Dutch 
what the trouble was all about. One of tlic Indians, 
the oldest and most sensible, rej^lied that it was only 
Chansops having a jealous fit because he saw Elma 
walking off with Quicksall. While these words were 
being said, Chansops was edging further away, and 
looking around furtively, saw that he had a chance to 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 73 

get away, and sprang after the retreating couple. 
Bounding like a deer, he was a few paces behind 
Quicksall in a twinkling of an eye. He had a heavy 
old flint-lock pistol with him, which he drew and fired 
point blank into the young lover's back at two or three 
paces. With a groan, Quicksall sank down on the 
ground, dying before Elma could comfort him. 

"Before Adam Hacker or the friendly Indians 
could reach the scene of the horrid tragedy, Chansops 
had escaped into the forests, followed by Quicksall's 
hounds yelping at his heels. He was seen no more. 
The dogs, tired and dejected, re-appeared the next 
day; evidently they had been cutraced by the fleet- 
Indian runner. 

"It was a blow from wliich the bereaved girl 
could not react. She was brave enough at the time, 
but she was never the same again. She gradually 
pined away, until she was a'bout my age, she died, 
and was buried not in the little graveyard, luit in her 
father's yard. That was done because it was feared 
that the crazy Chansops might return and dig up her 
body, and carry it away to his lodge in the heart of 
the forest. Quicksall was buried in the pioneer cemi- 
etery, and that is the place where Elma Hacker of 
those days evidently fre(|nents, trying to be near her 
sweetheart's last resting place, and to reason out the 
tragedy of her unfulfilled existence. 

"It is a very strange story, but odder still, to me, 
that you, a stranger, should have seen the apparition 



74 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

so frequently, wlien others do not, and been interested 
enough to have come here to unravel the mystery." 

"It is a strange story," said Tatnall, after a pause. 
He was figuring out just what he could say, and not 
say too much. "The strangest part is that the figure 
I have been seeing is the image of yourself, bears 
the same name, and my name, A'mmon Tatnall, has 
a somewhat similar sound, in fact is cousin-german 
to 'Ammon Quicksall.' " 

In the gloom Elma Hacker hung her pretty head 
still further. She was glad that there was no light 
as she did not want Tatnall to see the hot purple 
flush which she felt was suffusing her dark cheeks. 

"The minute I came into the store," Tatnall con- 
tinued, "you looked familiar; it did not take me a 
minute to identify you as the grey lady." 

"And you." broke in Elma, "appear just as I al- 
ways supposed Ammon Quicksall looked." 

How much more intimate the talk would liave be- 
come, there is no telling, but just then the door was 
swung open, and in came old Mrs. Becker, a neigh- 
bor woman, to buy some bread. 

"You must be getting moonstruck, Elma." she 
said, "to be here and not light the lamps. Why, it is 
as dark as Egypt in this room, and }ou were always 
so promjit to light them." 

Elma bestirred herself to find the matches, and 
soon the swinging lamps were lit, and the store aglow. 

Again the door was thrown open, and Elma's 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 75 

uncle came in. He was Adam Hacker, namesake of 
the old-time landlord, and proprietor of the store. 
Mrs. Becker got her bread and departed, and Elma 
introduced Tatnall to the storekeeper. Soon she ex- 
plained to him the stranger's business, to which the 
uncle listened sympathetically. At the conclusion he 
said: 

"It is really curious, after all these years, to have 
an Adam Hacker, an Elma Hacker and an Ammon 
Tatnall — almost Quicksall — here together; if Chan- 
sops was here it would be as if the past had risen 
again." 

"Let us hope there'll be no Chansops this time," 
said Tatnall. "Let us feel that everything that was 
unfulfilled and went wrong in those old days is to be 
righted now." 

It was a bold statement, but somehow it went 
unchallenged. 

"I believe in destiny, the destiny of wayside cem- 
eteries, of chance and opportunity," he resumed. "It 
can be the only road to true happiness after all." 

"How happy we'd all be," said Elma demurely, 
"if through all this we could only lay the ghost of my 
poor ancestress, the grey lady." 

"Nothing that is started is ever left unfinished." 
answered Tati.all. "And we of this generation be- 
come unconscious actors in the final scenes of a drama 
that began a couple of centuries ago. In that way 
the cycle of existence is carried out harmoniously, 
else this world could not go on if it was merely a 



76 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

jumble of odds and ends, and starts witliout finishes; 
as it is, even-thing that is good, that is worthwiiile, 
sometimes comes to a rounded out and completed ful- 
fillment." 

The moon, which had come out clear, was three 
parts full, and shed a glowing radiance over the rug- 
ged landscape. After supper Ammon and Elma' stroll- 
ed out along the white, moon-bathe I road. Coming 
to a cornfield the girl pointed to a great white oak 
with a plume-like crest which stood on a knoll, fac- 
ing the valley, the river, and the hills beyond ; they 
climbed the high rail fence, and slipping along quiet- 
ly, seated themselves beneath the giant tree. Of the 
many chapters of human life and destiny enacted be- 
neath the oak's spreading branches, none was strang- 
er than this one. There until the flaming orb had 
commenced to wane in the west, they sat, perfectly 
content. "Oh, how I like to rest on the earth," said 
she. "How T love to be here, and look at your won- 
derful face," he whispered, as he stroked tlie perfect 
lines of her nose, lips, chin and throat. 




VI. 

The Holly Tree 

IT was while on a mountain climbing trip in the 
French Alps, when stormstayed at a small inn 
at Grenoble, that a chance acquaintance showed 
The \'i5count Adare a copy of "The Travels of Thom- 
as Ashe," a book which had recently appeared in 
London and created a sensation in the tourist world. 
The A^iscount had already perused "Travels Beyond 
the Alleghenies," by the younger Michaux, but the 
volume by Ashe, so full of human interest, more than 
sharpened his old desire to travel in the United 
States, now that a stable peace between the young 
republic and the Mother Country was a matter of 
some years standing. 

The mountains, as described by both Michaux 
and Ashe, seemed stupendous and inspiring, wild 
game and mighty forests were everywhere, and a 
glimpse might be caught of the vanishing redmen, 
without journeying as far west as the Mississippi 
River. 

Thomas Ashe excelled in descriptions of the life 
along the mountain highways, though nothing could 
be more vivid than Michaux's pen picture of his feast 
on venison cooked on the coals on the hearth at Stat- 
ler's stone tavern on the Allegheny summits, near 
Buckstown. This ancient hostelry is, by the way, still 

77 



78 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

standing, though misnamed "The Shot Factory," by 
modern chroniclers, much to Hie disgust of the ac- 
curate historian of Somerset County. George \V. 
Grov€. 

All during his trip among the Alps of Savoy, and 
Dauphiny, The \'iscount Adare was planning the ex- 
cursion to Pennsylvania. His love of wild scenery 
was one compelling reason, but perhaps another was 
Ashe's description of his meeting and brief romance 
with the beautiful Eleanor Ancketell, daughter of the 
innkeeper on the Broad Mountain, alx)ve Upper 
Strasburg, Franklin County. 

It was well along in August, the twenty-first to 
be exact, when Ashe's book was first shown to him, 
therefore it seemed impracticable to make the jour- 
ney that year, but the time would soon roll around, 
and be an ideal outing for the ensuing summer. From 
the time of his return to London, until almost the date 
set for the departure. The \'iscount Adare busied 
himself reading every book of American travel and 
adventure that he could lay his hands on, besides ac- 
cumulating a vast outfit to take along, although the 
trip was to be on foot, and without even a guide. 

Needless to say, with such an interesting object- 
ive, the year passed very rapidly, not that The Vis- 
count had no other interests, for he had many, being 
a keen sportsman and scientist, as well as a lover of 
books, paintings and the drama. 

It was on the twenty-third of August, a little 
over a year after his first acquaintance with the writ- 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 79 

ings of Ashe, that The Viscount embarked for Phil- 
adelphia, on the fast sailing ship "Ocean Queen." 
Very few Englishmen went to America for pleasure 
in those days as the sting of the Revolution was still 
a thorn in their sides. Many Britishers did go, but 
they were mostly of the commoner sort, immigrants, 
not tourists. 

The Viscount Adare, even before sailing, had his 
itinerary pretty well mapped out. He would tarry a 
week in Philadelphia to get rid of his "sea legs." then 
proceed by carriage to Louisbourg, then beginning to 
be called Harrisburg, and go from there to Carlisle, 
Shippensburg, and Upper Strasburg, at which last 
named place he would abandon his conveyance, and 
with pack on back, in true Alpine fashion, start over- 
land, traversing the same general direction of ]\'Iich- 
aux and Ashe towards Pittsburg. At Pittslburg he 
planned to board a flat boat and descend the Ohio, 
thence into the Mississippi, proceeding to New Or- 
leans, at which city he could set sail for England. 

It was an ambitious trip for a solitary traveler, 
but as he was known by his Alpinist friends as "The 
Guideless Wonder," some indication may be divined 
of his resourcefulness. 

The journey across the Atlantic was interesting. 
A school of whales played about the ship, coming so 
close as to create the fear tliat they would overturn it. 
The Captain, a shrewd Irishman, was not to be daunt- 
ed, so he ordered a number of huge barrels or casks 
thrown overboard, which immediately diverted the 



80 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

attention of the saurians, with the result that a smart 
breeze coming up, they were left far astern. 

A boat, said to be a pirate, was sighted against 
the horizon, but fortunately made no attempt to come 
close, heading away towards the Summer Islands, 
where, say the older generation of mountain folks, 
arise all the warm south breezes that often temper 
wintry or early spring days in the I'ennsylvania High- 
lands, with blue sky and fleecy clouds. 

The \''iscount Adare was pleased w^ith these tri- 
fling adventures, and more so with ocean travel, as 
it was his first long sea voyage, though he had cross- 
ed the Channel and the Irish Sea scores of times. 

He debarked in Philadelphia after a voyage last- 
ing nearly six weeks, consequently the green foliage 
of England was replaced by the vivid tints of Au- 
tumn on the trees which grew in front of the rows 
of brick houses near the Front Street Landing Wharf. 
He had letters to the British Consul, who was anxious 
to arrange a week or tw^o of social activit}' for the 
distinguished traveler, but Tlie Mscount assured him 
that he must be on his way. 

The ride in public coaches to Lancaster and Har- 
risburg was accomplished without incident. His fel- 
low travelers were anxious to point out the various 
places of interest, the fine corn crops, livestock and 
farm buildings, but the Englisliman was so anxious to 
get to the wilds that tliis interlude only filled him with 
impatience. 

He was impressed not a little by the battlefields 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 81 

of Paoli and Brandywine, but most of all by the grove 
where the harmless Conestoga Indians were encamp- 
ed when surprised and massacred by the brutal Pax- 
tang Boys. The word "Indians" thrilled him, and 
whetted his curiosity, which was somewhat appeased 
on his arrival at Harrisburg by the sight of five In- 
dians in full regalia, lying on the grass under John 
Harris' INIulberry Tree, waiting to be ferried across 
the river. 

He tarried only one night at Harrisburg, then 
hiring a private conveyance, started down the Cum- 
berland Valle}'. where he most admired the many 
groves of tall hardwoods — resting at Carlisle and 
Shippensburg — as originally planned. At Carlisle, he 
was waited on at his inn by a German woman, who 
explained to him that she was none other than '*]\ lolly 
Pitcher," or Molly Ludwig, the intrepid heroine of the 
Battle of Monmouth. 

It was on a bright autumnal niorning that, with 
pack on back, and staff in liand, he started for the 
heights of Cove Mountain, towards the west country. 
On the way he passed a small roadside tavern, in 
front of which a few years before had played a lit- 
tle yellow-haired hoy, with a turkey bell suspended 
around his neck so that he naild not get lost. Tlie 
German drovers who lolled in front of the iiostelry 
were fond of teasing the lad, calling him "Jimmy mit 
the bells on," much to the youngster's displeasure. 
His mother was a woman of some intellectual at- 
tainments, and occasionally would edify the society 



82 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

folk of Mercersburg by recitiiii:^ tbc whole of Milton's 
"Paradise Lost." 

In time this boy i>ecamc known as James Buchan- 
an, the only Pennsylvanian to occuy\v the Presidential 
chair. 

There were many taverns along the road, con- 
sidering the wildness of the country, and The Vis- 
count thought how much history and tradition was 
being made about their inglenooks and home-garths, 
The forests of chestnuts, yellow pine and rock oak, 
the grand scenery of distant valleys and coves, in- 
terested him more, and the occasional meetings with 
the mountain people along the way, whom he enjoyed 
conversing with, about the local folk-lore, game and 
Indians. On manv of the log l)arns and sheds were 
nailed bear paws, deer horns and wolf hides, and the 
hieroglyphics and signs, to ward off witches, were 
keenlv interesting to his inquiring gaze. 

It was amazing how the road wound in serpen- 
tine fashion among the mountains ; the distance could 
have been much shortened, lie thought. 

One morning a backwoodsman with a black beard 
that hung almost to his feet, explained to him the 
"'short cuts." or paths that went down the steep slopes 
of the mountains, lessening the distance of the regu- 
lar roads followed by the packers around the ellK)ws 
of the mountain ravines. 

The \'iscount Adare enjoyed these "short cuts" 
hugely. They reminded him of his Alpining days, 
and thcv led him rigiit through the forests, under the 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 83 

giant oaks and pines where he saw many unusual 
looking birds, such as Pileated Woodpeckers and Car- 
olina Paraquets, while occasionally a Deer or (jray 
Fox crossed his path. He had reached the bottom of 
a ravine where a stream headed at a big spring, while 
taking one of these "short cuts," when he came in 
sight of a clearing which contained a corn held, a 
pasture lot or commons, a log house, log barn, and 
a smaller log cabin, that looked like a smoke-house. 
Smoke was issuing from an opening in the roof of 
'the tiny structure, which might have passed for a 
child's play house, modelled after the larger log 
dwelling. As he neared the little hut. which reminded 
him of ian Alpine baracq, and which stood close to 
the path, the door opened and two most curious look- 
ing figures emerged. In old England he had seen 
sweeps, but these were more grotesque and grimier 
than any he could recall. As he drew nearer, he per- 
ceived that while one appeared to be a man, the other 
was a young woman. Both were entirely unclad, save 
that the woman's locks were covered by a homespun 
cap of the tarn o'shanttr pattern. Both were literally 
black, from head to foot. 

When they saw the traveler, the woman ran back 
into the cabin, pulling the door shut, while the "Ji"^ 
Crow" man waited in the path until joined by the 
surpised Viscount. 

"What is all this, my good man," he queried, 
"been cleaning your chimney and fallen through it 
into a barrel of tar?" 



84 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

"Oh, no," said the grimy mountaineer, smiling, 
his teeth looking very white against his swartliy vis- 
age. "My business is to make lamp black, and my 
friend and I have been sweeping down the walls, col- 
lecting the output this morning, and boxing it, and 
had just finished when you appeared in sight." 

The fellow made no attempt to apologize for his 
outlandish appearance, but stood there in the sunlight 
like an imp of darkness, chatting with the English- 
man. 

"I don't want to keep your lady friend penned 
up in there any longer," said The X'iscount, as he 
started to move away. 

"Oh, don't go," said the maker of lamp black, 
'T don't know why she acts that way ; stay and have 
dinner with us. We never let a stranger go by with- 
out furnishing him with some food." 

Ordinarilv, The X'iscount Adare. unconventional 
as he was, would have scurried away from such 
grimy surroundings, but there was something that 
appealed to him about the lam]) black maker's lady, 
even in her coat of ebony grime, that made him de- 
cide to tarry. 

"Thanks, I will stay." he replied, "but I'll go to 
the barn so as to give your 'friend,' as you can ner, 
a chance to come out." 

"Don't you bother to do that," said the black man. 
"She is acting foolish today ; don't give her the sat- 
isfaction to move a step. She never minded showing 
herself to anybody before." 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 85 

These last words were secretly pleasing to the 
Viscount, as it showed that the young woman rec- 
ognized in him a person of superior sensibilities, but 
he hurried to the barn until he knew that she had 
been given time to escape to the house. But he could 
not help hearing the lamp black maker loudly chid- 
ing her for modesty, a trait she had never displayed 
previously. Pretty soon he saw the fellow making 
trips to the spring, carrying water buckets into the 
house. The Viscount sat on the doorstep of the barn, 
watching the juncos flying about among the savin 
bushes in the clearing, or his eyes feasting on the cor- 
nelian red foliage of the sassafras trees on the liill. 
inwardly speculating if with her black disguise wash- 
ed off, the young woman, whose higher nature he 
had aroused, would be as good looking as he imag- 
ined her to be. He made a mental picture of her love- 
liness, ranking her close beside that of high bred beau- 
ties of his own land, of the types depicted by. Rom- 
ney, Kneller and Lely. 

It was not long before he saw her emerge from 
the house, all washed and scrubbed, with her hair 
neatly combed, clad in a spick and span '"butternut" 
frock. As she came towards him, he noted that she 
was a trifle above the average height, and her feet, 
despite the rough brogans she wore, were very small. 
He saw, to his amazement, that she was the counter- 
part of his mental picture, only more radiantly love- 
ly. When she drew near, she asked him. her face 
lighting up very prettily, as she spoke, if he would 



86 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

like to come to the house to rest, that she would soon 
prepare dinner, and hoped that he would not be too 
critical of her liumMe efforts as a cook. 

Her eyes seldom met his, but he could see that 
they were large and grey-brown, with delicately pen- 
ciled bla^k brows, and Ijlack lashes. Her face was 
rather long and sallow, or rather of a pinkish pallor. 
Her hair was cameo brown, her nose long and 
straight, the lines of her mouth delicate and refined, 
with lips unusually thin, lie h.ad noticed, as she came 
towards him, that her slender form swayed a little 
forward as she walked, reminding him of the mythi- 
cal maiden Syrinx, daughter of the River God, whom 
the jealous-hearted Pan changed into a reed. 

The Viscount Adare was far more disconcerted 
than his hostess, as he followed her to the log house. 
Just as they approached the doox she whispered, "'I 
hope that yovi will forgive the awful exhibition I made 
of myself." 

Indoors she sat down on one of the courting 
blocks by the great open hearth, where pots of various 
sizes hung from the cranes. The man. who was still 
trying to get the lamp jjlack out of his curly hair and 
beard, was only i)artially dressed, and looked all the 
World like pictures of the lascivious Lu])ercalian Pan 
himself. 

The Englishman felt strangely at ease in the 
cabin, walching the slender, reed-like girl prepare the 
meal, and enjoyed the dinner with his humble enter- 
tainers. 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 87 

Shortly after the repast another bearded back- 
woodsman appeared at the door. The lamp black 
maker had an appointment to go with him to some 
distant parts of the Shade Alomitains to examine 
bear pens, and asked to be excused. He would not be 
back until the next day ; it was nothing unusual for 
him to leave his friend alone for a week at a time on 
similar excursions. 

The \'iscoiint was in no hurry to go, as never 
had a woman appealed to him as did the lamp black 
maker's young assistant. Perhaps it was the uncon- 
ventional character of their first meeting that shocked 
his love into being; at any rate he was severely smit- 
ten; probably John Rolfe was no more so, on his first 
glimpse of the humane Pocohontas. 

After the two hunters had gone, the young wo- 
man sat down on the other courting block, on the op- 
posite of the inglenook, and The Viscoimt decided 
to ask her to tell him the story of her life. She col- 
ored a trifle, saying that no one had ever been inter- 
ested in her life's history before, therefore, she might 
not repeat it very well. 

She had been born at sea, of parents coming from 
the northern part of Ireland. They had settled first 
in the Cumberland \' alley, then, when she was about 
a dozen years old, decided to migrate to Kentucky. 
They had not gotten much further than the covered 
bridge across the Little Juniata, wlien they were am- 
bushed by robbers, and all the adult members of the 
party, her parents and an uncle, were slain. The 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 



children were carried ofif, 'being apportioned among 
the highwaymen. She fell to the lot of the leader 
of the band, Conrad Jacobs, wdio took more than a 
fatherly interest in her. 

He was a middle-aged married man, but he open- 
ly said that when the girl was big enough, he would 
chase his wife away and install her in her place. But 
she was kindly treated by the strange people, even 
more so than at home, for her mother iiad been very 
severe and unreasonable. 

When she was fifteen she saw signs that the out- 
law was going to put his plan into effect — to drive 
his wife out into tlie forest, like an old horse — and 
probably would have done so. but for Simon Super- 
saxo, the lamp black man. who came to the highway- 
man's slianty fre(|uently on his hunting trips. 

The robber became jealous of the young Xinirod 
and threatened to shoot him if he came near the 
premises again. A threat was as good as a promise 
with such people, so Supersaxo was ready to kill or 
l)e killed on sight. 

I le met the highwayman one evening in front of 
McCormick's Tavern, and drawing the bead, shot 
him dead. He was not arrested, but feted by all the 
innkeepers for ridding the mountains of a dangerous 
deterrent to travel, while sh.e. her name was Deborah 
Conner, went to help keep louse for him, along with 
the outlaw's widow, but in reality to help make lamp 
black. 

That was four vears before. Since old Mother 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 89 

Jacobs liad died and Deborah, now nineteen years 
of age, was being importuned by Supersaxo to marry 
him. 

Previous to the Englishman's coming that morn- 
ing, she had never felt any shame at working in the 
lamp bladk hut with her employer, or appearing be- 
fore passers-by unclad, but now a great light had 
come to her; she was free to confess that she was 
changed and humiliated. 

The \ iscount looked her over and over, and far 
into those wonderful stone grey eyes that mirrored 
a refined soul lost in the wilderness. Then he made 
bold to speak : 

"Deborah", he said, '"since you have been so frank 
with me in telling the story of your life, I will free- 
ly confess to you that I loved you the minute my 
eyes rested on you, even in your unbecoming home- 
spun cap, and lamp black from head tO' foot. I 
realize that your being here is but an accident, and 
my coming the instrument to take you away. I will 
marry you, and strive always to make you happy, 
if you will come away with me, and I will take you 
to England where, amiong people of refined tastes, 
you will shine and always be at peace." 

Deborah opened her thin delicate mouth in sur- 
prise, and her eyes became like grey stars. "Really, 
do you mean that" ? she said. 

"I mean every word." replied The \'iscount 
Adare. 

"I know that I feel difFerentlv towards you than 



90 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

any man I have seen, so I must love you, and I will 
always be happy with you," resumed the girl. "And 
wliile I owe Simon Supersaxo a deep debt of grati- 
tude for saving me from being forced into marrying 
that horrid old road-agent, I owe myself more, and 
you more .btill. J will go with }(iu whenever you are 
ready to take me, no matter what my conscience will 
tell me later. Though I'll say to you honestly that I 
never thought tliere was any life for me further than 
to make lamp black, until you came." 

She explained to him that at Christmastime the 
lamp black man always went with a party of compan- 
ions on a' great elk hunt to the distant Sinnemahoning 
Country, and if The Viscount would return then, she 
would arrange to meet him at a certain place at a 
certain day and hour, and go away with him. "There 
is a little clearing or old field' on the top of the ridge, 
beyond this house," and pointing her slender white 
hand, showed to him through the open door. "Meet 
me there on the day before Christmas, and I will l>e 
free to go away with you rejoicing." 

The balance of the visit was passed in pleasant 
amity, until towards nightfall, when The N'iscount 
shouldered his pack and seized his staff, and started 
away, not for Pittsburg, but eastward again. De- 
borah, her slender reed-like figure swaying in the 
autumn breeze, walked with him to the edge of the 
clearing. She kissed him goodJbye among the savin 
bushes, and he kissed her many times in return, until 
they parted at the carnelian-leafed sassafras trees 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 91 

on the hill, and he commenced the ascent of tiie 
steep face of Chestnut Ridge. 

The trip back to Philadelphia was taken imi)a- 
tiently, but with a different kind of impatience; he 
wanted the entire intervening time obliterated, until 
he could get back to liis strange exotic mountain love. 
In Philadelphia he engaged passage for England the 
first week in January, and wrote letters abroad to 
complete the arrangements for taking his wife-to-be 
to his ancestral home. ?Ie could never forget the last 
afternoon' in the Quaker City. Christmas was com- 
ing, and the spirit of this glad festival was in the air, 
even more so than in ''Merrie England." He was 
walking through Chancellor Street when lie came up- 
on two blind Negro Christmas-singers, former sail- 
ors, who had lost their sight in the premature explo- 
sion of a cannon on the deck of a frigate on the Del- 
aware River during the Revolutionary War. He 
stopped, elegant gentleman that he was, listened en- 
raptured to their songs of simple faith: ''Praise God 
From Whom All Blessings Plow." 

"If they had so much to be thankful for," he 
mused, "how much more have I, with lovely Debor- 
ah only a few days in the future. 

Then he gave them each five shillings and moved 
on. A little furtiier down the street, he met an old 
Negro Woman selling sprigs of holly with bright 
red berries. He lx)ught a sprig. "Pll take it to De- 
borah," he said to himself. 

He returned to Ilarrisburg by the stage coach, 



92 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

accompanied by a Negro body-servant well recom- 
mended by the British Consul. At Harrisburg he 
purchased four extra good horses. With these and 
the Negro he retraced his previous journey. He 
left the Negro and the horses at McCormick's Tav- 
ern, continuing the balance of the journey on foot, 
his precious sprig of holly, with the bright red ber- 
ries, fastened on the top of his staff, that had often 
been decked with the cdchveiss and the Alpine rose. 
Deborah had said that she knew all the mountain 
paths back to McCormick's, so they could reach there 
quickly, and be mounted on fast horses almost be- 
fore her employer missed them. 

His heart was beating fast as he neared his 
trysting place, the little clearing on the ridge the 
morning before Cliristmas. Peering through the 
trees, he observed that Deborah was not there, but 
surely she would soon come, the sun was scarcely 
over the Chestnut Ridge to the east! A grey fog 
hung over the valley, ol)scuring the little cabin in 
the cove. 

He waited a,nd waited all day long, but no De- 
borah appeared. He walked all over the top ot the 
ridge to see if there were other clearings, lest he had 
gotten to the wrong one. There were no others, just 
as she had said. Cold beads of perspiration stood 
out on his forehead ; he was angry ; he was jealous ; 
the day was closing bitterly cold. "The woman that 
I want, she will not come." 

Finallv as tlic sun was g-oino- down behind the 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 93 

western summits of the AUeghenies, he untied the 
sprig of holly from the end of his mountain-staff, 
and 'bending over, stuck it in the fast freezing earth, 
a symtool of his faithless adventure, and started down 
the mountain, straight towards Deborah Supersaxo's 
cabin. 

At the foot of the hill he met her coming towards 
him — her face was deadly pale, her thin lips white 
as death — instantly his hate changed to tender love 
again. 

"Kill me if you wish," she cried out before he 
had time to speak, and held out her arms to show her 
non-resistance, "for I have been unworthy. I broke 
my faith with you, and was not going to come; I re- 
pented at leaving Supersaxo. who had been so good 
to me when I was in distress. I was going to leave 
you in the lurch. Then, then," and here tears trickled 
down her ghastly cheeks, "I was sitting on the court- 
ing log by the fire, commending myself for my loy- 
alty, when a few minutes ago one of his friends came 
in to say that the day before yesterday, while look- 
ing at somebody's bear pen near the Karoondinha, it 
fell in on him and broke his neck. I was just coming 
up the hill to tell you, if you were still waiting, how 
wicked 1 had been to you, and how T had been pun- 
ished. Kill me if you wish, I can never be happy 
any more." 

The Mscount Adare did not hesitate a moment, 
but flinging down his staff, he rushed to the girl and 
caught her in his arms. ''Doubly blessed are we this 



94 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

night, dear Deborah, for tliere is now no impediment 
to our happiness ; no miscHrected sense of fhity can 
cast a shadow on the joy that lies before us. ! want 
you now more than ever before, after this tinal trial, 
and you must come with me!" 

"Never say must again," said Deborah, sweetly, 
looking up into his eyes, "I am your willing slave ; I 
will go with you to the ends of the earth : I w^nt to 
redeem this day by years of devotion, years ot love." 

Picking up his staff, The X'iscount Adare and 
the mountain girl resumed their journey, past the 
now deserted log house and the lamp black shack 
where they had first met, up tiie steep mountain, and 
off towards McCormick's Tavern, near where, in a 
deep pine grove, the Negro body-servant would be 
waiting with the horses. 

That is all that has been recorded in the moun- 
tains concerning the lamp black girl and Tlie Viscount 
Adare. In England there is an oil painting of a 
certain Viscountess of the name that bears a striking 
resemblance to the one time Deborah Conner. 

Up on the ridge, in the little clearing, one or 
more of the seeds of the sprig of holly took root, and 
grew a fine tree. In order that this story may t>e 
localized, it is said that this is one of the points 
furthest north of any specimen of the native holly in 
Pennsylvania. In time it died off. but not before 
other scions sprang up. and there has always been a 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 



95 



thrifty holly tree on the hill, as if to commemorate a 
lover's tryst, whose heart when on the point of break- 
ing from hideous despair, found the fullness of his 
happiness suddenly, and whose story is an inspiration 
to all aching hearts. 




VII. 

The Second Run of the Sap 

THE selective draft, according to Dr. Jacobs, ai 
very intelligent Seneca Indian, residing on the 
Cornplanter Keserv^ation in Warren County, 
was practiced by Pennsylvania Indians in some of 
their earlier conflicts, notably in the bloody warfare 
in the Cherokee country. 

In the war against the Cherokces, there was a 
popular apathy at home, as it was not undertaken to 
repel an unjust invasion, but for the purpose of ag- 
gression, after the murder of a number of Chero- 
kees by the Lenape, and as such did not appeal to 
the just and patient tribesmen in general. 

In order to increase the invading armies l)eyond 
the limits of the volunteer quotas of warriors and 
chiefs, who were of patrician antecedents, the draft 
was resorted to, with the result that a formidable 
host departed for the Southland, ravaging the ene- 
my's country, and bringing in many prisoners. 

The Cherokees were not completely vancjuished, 
as they were victorious in some of the conflicts, and 
also made numerous prisoners. Some of these were 
tortured to death, others were adopted by families 
that had lost their sons, while a few escaped and 
made their way Northward. 

The war was followed by the usual period of 
96 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 97 

upheaval and reconstruction, and the moral code of 
the redmen suffered as much as did modern civiliza- 
tion as an aftermath of the world war. Many Cher- 
okee prisoners were brought to Penns3dvania and put 
at menial work, or bartered as slaves, while others 
intermarried with the northern tribes, so that Chero- 
kee blood become a component part of the make-up 
of the Pennsylvania aboriginies. The Cherokee leg- 
ends and history lingered wherever a drop of their 
blood remained, so that the beginnings of some, at 
least, of our Pennsylvania Indian folk-lore hark back 
to the golden age of the Cherokees. 

They certainly have been the martyr-race, the 
Belgians of the North American Indians, even to the 
time of their brutal expulsion from their Carolina 
homes during the Nineteenth Century by U. S. troops 
at the behest of selfish land-grabbers, and sentenced 
to die of exhaustion and broken hearts along the 
dreary trek to the distant Indian Territor}'. 

Among the bravest and most enthusiastic of the 
Pennsylvania invaders was the young warrior In-nan- 
ga-eh, chief of the draft, who led the drafted por- 
tion of tlie army against the Cherokee foemen. He 
was of noble blood, hence himself exempt from the 
■draft, but he was a lover of war and glory, and re- 
joiced to lead his less well-boni, and less patriotic 
compatriots into the thick of battle. Although noble 
rank automatically exempted from th.e draft, the 
young scions of nobility enlisted practically to a man, 



98 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

holding high commissions, it is true, yet at all times 
bold and courageous. 

In-nan-ga-eh was always peculiarly attractive to 
the female sex. Tall, lithe and sinewy, he was a 
noted runner and hunter, as well as famed for his 
warlike prowess. At twenty-two he was already the 
veteran of several wars, notably against the Ottawas 
and the Cataw'bas, and thirsted for a chance to hum- 
ble his southern rivals, the Cherokees. He wished 
to make it his boast that he had fought and conquer- 
ed tribes on the four sides of the territory where he 
lived, making what is now the Pennsylvania coun- 
try the ruling land, the others all vassal states. 

He was indiscriminate in his love making, hav- 
ing no respect for birth or caste, being diiiferent from 
his reserved and honora'ble fellow aristocrats, con- 
sequently at his departure for the south, lie was 
mourned for by over a score of maidens of various 
types and degrees. If he cared for any one of these 
admirers, it was Liddenah, a very beautiful, kindly 
and talented maiden, the daughter of the noted wise 
man or sooth-sayer, Wahlowah, and probably the most 
remarkable girl in the tribe. 

That she cared for such an unstable and shal- 
low-minded youth to the exclusion of others of su- 
perior mental gifts and seric usness of purpose, amply 
proved the saying that op;)osites attract, for there 
could have been no congeniality of tastes between the 
pair. Temperamentally they seemed utterlv unsuited, 
as Liddenah w^as artistic and musicalh' inclined, and 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 99 

a chronicler of no mean ability, yet she would have 
given her life for him at any stage of the romance. 
She possessed ample self-control, but when he went 
away her inward sorrow gnawing at her heart almost 
killed her. She may have had a presentiment of what 
was in store! 

During invasions of this kind, commjunication 
with home was maintained by means of runners who 
carried tidings, good or bad, bringing back verbal 
lists of the dead, wounded and missing, some of which 
they shamefully garbled. 

In-nan-ga-eh was decorated several times for 
conspicuous bravery, and was reported in the van- 
guard of every attack, until at length came the shock- 
ing news of his ambush and capture. Over a score 
of the most beautiful maidens along the Ohe-yu and 
Youghiogheny were heartbroken to distraction, but 
none more so than the lovely and intellectual Lidde- 
nah. This was the crowning blow, her lover taken by 
his cruel foes, being perhaps boiled alive, or drawn 
and quartered. Seated alone in her lodge house by 
the banks of The Beautiful River, she pictured all 
sorts of horrors befalling her beloved, and of his own 
deep grief at being held prisoner so far from his 
homeland. 

It was a humiliation to be captured, and by a 
band of Amazons, who begged permission to entrap 
the fascinating enemy. Finding him bathing in a 
deep pool, they surrounded it. flinging at him slight- 
ly poisoned darts, which made him partially overcome 



100 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

by sleep, so that he was only able to clamber out on 
the bank, there to be secured by his fair captors and 
led in dazed triumph to their chief. 

The chieftain was elated at the capture, and 
treated the handsome prisoner with all the deference 
due to his rank. Instead of boiling him in oil, or 
flaying him, he was feted and feasted, and the war- 
like bands became demoralized by catering to his 
pleasure. 

It was not long before the chief's daughter. Ine- 
watah, fell in love with him, and as her illustrious 
father, Tekineh, had lust a son in the war, In-nan-ga- 
eh was given the choice of becoming the chief's adopt- 
ed son or his son-in-law. He naturally chose the lat- 
ter, as the wife-to-be was both beautiful and winning. 

The war resulted in defeat for the Cherokees, 
although the old chief escaped to fastnesses further 
south with his beautiful daughter and alien son-in- 
law. All went well for a year and a half after the 
peace when In-nan-ga-eh began to feel restless and 
listless for his northern mountains, the jjlayground of 
his youth. He wanted to go on a visit, and asked 
the cliief's permission, giving as his word of honor, 
his love for the chieftain's daughter, that he would 
properly return. 

The Cherokee bride was as heartbroken as Lid- 
denah ; she had first asked that she might accompany 
him on the trip, which was refused, but she accepted 
the inevitable stoically outwardly, but with secret 
aching bosom. 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 101 

In-nan-ga-eh was glad to get away; being loved 
too much was tiresome ; life was too enervating in 
the warm sunshine on Soco Creek; he liked the camp 
and the hunting lodge; love making, too mucn ot it, 
palled on him. He wanted to be let alone. 

Accompanied by a bodyguard of selected 
Cherokee s, he hurriedly made his way to the North. 
One morning to the surprise and delight of all, he 
appeared at his tribal village by the Ohe-yu, as gay 
and debonair as ever. As he entered the town almost 
the first person he saw was IJddenah. She looked 
very beautiful, and he could see at one glance how 
she loved him, yet perversely he barely nodded as he 
passed. 

When he was re-united with his parents, who 
treated him as one risen from the dead, his sisters be- 
gan telling him about the news of the settlement, of 
his many friends, of Liddenah. Her grief had been 
very severe, it shocked her mother that she should 
behave so like a European and show her feelings to 
such an extent. Then the report had come that he 
had been put to death by slow torture. "Better that," 
Liddenah had said openly in the market place, "than 
to remain the captive of barbarians." 

Once it was taken for granted that he was dead, 
Liddenah began to receive tlie attentions of young 
braves, as they came back from the South laden with 
scalps and other decorations of their victorious cam- 
paign against the Cherokees. Liddenah gave all to 
understand that her heart was dead; slie was polite 



102 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

and tolerant, l)ut, like the eagle, she could love only 
once. 

There was one young brave named Quinnemongh 
who pressed his suit more assiduously than the rest, 
and aided by Liddenah's mother, was successful. 
The pair were quietly married about a year after 
In-nan-ga-eh's capture, or several months before he 
started for the North, leaving his Cherokee bride at 
her father's home on the Soco. 

Quinnemongh was not such a showy individual 
as In-nan-ga-eh, but his bravery was unquestioned, 
his reliability and honor above reproacli. He made 
Liddenah a very good husband. In turn she seemed 
to be happy with him, and gradually overcoming her 
terrible sorrow. 

When In-nan-ga-eh had passed Liddenah on en- 
tering the village, he had barely noticed her because 
he supposed that he could have her any time for the 
asking. When he learned that she was the wife of 
another, he suddenly realized that he wanted her very 
badly, that she was the cause of his journey North- 
ward. The old passion surged through his veins ; 
it was what the bark-peelers call "the second run of 
the sap." 

Through his sisters, who were among Liddenah's 
most intimate friends, he sought a clandestine meet- 
ing with his former sweetheart. They met at the 
"Stepping Stones," a crossing near the headwaters 
of Cowanshannock, in a mossy glade, which had for- 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 103 

merly been his favorite trysting place with over a 
score of doting maidens in the ante-bellum days. 

Liddenah, inspired by her great love, never look- 
ed more beautiful. She was probably a trifle above 
the average height, gracefully, but solidly made. Her 
skin was very white, her eyes dark, her hair that of 
a raven, while her aquiline nose, high cheek bones and 
small, fine mouth made her resemble a high-bred 
Jewess more than an Indian squaw, a heritage per- 
haps from a remote Semitic origin beyond the Pacific. 
She showed openly how happy she was to meet In-nan- 
ga-eh, until he told her the story of his tragic love, 
how she had broken his young heart by cruelly marry- 
ing another while he languished in a Southern prison 
camp. In vain she protested that on all sides came 
seemingly authentic reports of his death; he was 
obdurate in the destiny he had decreed. Uuinne- 
mongh must die by his hand, and he would then flee 
with the widow to the country of the Ottawas. The 
hot blood surging in his veins, like a second flow of 
sap in a' red maple, must be appeased by her submis- 
sion. 

Liddenah was horrified ; she came of eminently re- 
spectable ancestry, she admired Quinnemongh, her 
husband, almost to the point of loving him, but where 
thait afifection ended, her all-pervading obsession for 
In-nan-ga-eh began and knew no limitations in her 
being. 

'Tonight", said Tn-nan-ga-eh, scowling dreadfully, 
"I will surprise the vile Quinnemongh in his lodge 



104 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

house, and with one blow of my stone war-hammer 
crush in his skull, then I will scalp him and meet you 
at the stepping stones, and by the moonlight we will 
decamp to the far free country of the Ottawas, his 
scalp dangling at my belt as proof of my hate and my 
bravery". 

Liddenah gave a' reluctant assent to the fiendish pro- 
gram when they parted. On her way home through 
the forest path her conscience smote her with Mosaic 
insistence — the blood of her ancestors, of the Lost 
Tribe of Israel, would not permit her to sanction the 
murder of a good and true warrior. She would 
immolate herself for her family honor, and for her 
respect for Ouinnemongh. 

Arriving at the lodge-house she went straight to 
Quinnemongh and confessed tlie story of her meeting 
with the perfidious Tn-nan-ga-eh, all but the homicidal 
part. Quinnemongli was not much surprised, as he 
knew of her great love for the cx-Cherokec ])risoner, 
and Jn-nan-ga-eh's capricious ])ri(le. 

"Quinnemongh", she said, l)c'twcen her sol)s. for, like 
a white girl, she was tearful, "I was to meet In-nan- 
ga-eh tonight, when the moon is over the tops cf the 
trees, by the stepping stones, and we were to fly to- 
gether to the country of the Ottawas. Vou present 
yourself there in my stead, and tell the false In-nan- 
ga-eh that I have changed my mind, that I am true to 
my noble husband". 

Needless to say, Ouinnemongh was pleased at this 
recital, and promised to be at the ford at the appointed 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 105 

time. Like most persons under similar circumstances, 
he was eager to be on his errand, and departed early, 
armed with his favorite scalping knife. Liddenah 
kissed and embraced him, calling him her "hero", and 
once he was out of sight, she darted into his cabin 
and lay down among his blankets and buffalo robes, 
covering herself, all but the top of her brow, and 
huddling, all curled up, for the autumnal air was chill. 

The moon slowly rose higher and higher until it 
reached the crowns of the giant rock oaks along the 
edge of the "Indian fields". The gaunt form of In- 
nan-ga-eh could now be seen creeping steadily out of 
the forest, bounding across the clearing and, stone axe 
in hand, entered the cabin where he supposed that 
Quinnemongh was sleeping. A ray of shimmery 
moonlight shone full on the upturned forehead of his 
victim. Animated by a jealous hate, he struck a 
heavy blow with his axe of dark diorite, crushing in 
the sleeper's temples like an egshell. Leaving the 
weapon imbedded in his victim's skull, he deftly cut 
ofif the long bushy scalp with his sharp knife, and, 
springing out of the hut, started off on a dog-trot to- 
wards the stepping stones, waving his bloody, grue- 
some souvenir. 

He approached the fording with the light of the 
full moon shining on the waters of the brook ; he was 
exultant and grinding his teeth in lustful fuiw. Who 
should he see there — not the fair and yielding god- 
dess Liddenah, but the stalwart form of the recently 
butchered and scalped Quinnemongh. Believer in 



106 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

ghosts that he was, this was almost too much of a visi- 
tation for him. Pausing a minute to make sure, he 
rushed forward brandishing the scalp in one hand, his 
knife, which caught the moon's beams on its blade in 
the other. 

"Wretch"! he shrieked at Quinnemongh, "must I 
kill you a second time to make you expiate your sin 
at marrying Liddenah" ? 

Quinnemongh, who stood rigid as a statue at the 
far side of the ford, replied, "You have not killed me 
once ; how dare you speak of a second time" ? 

"WHiose scalp have I then"? shouted Tn-nan-ga-eh, 
as he continued to rush forward. 

"Not mine surely", said Quinnemongh. as he felt 
his comparatively sparse locks 

Just as the men came face to face it dawned on both 
what had happened, and with gleaming knives, they 
sprang at one another in a death struggle. For half 
an hour they fought, grappling and stabbing, kicking 
and biting, in the shallow waters of the ford. Neither 
would go down, though Liddenah's scalp was forced 
from In-nan-ag-eh's hand, and got between the breasts 
of the two combatants, who pushed it, greasy and 
gory, up and down as they fought. They literally 
stabbed one another full of holes, and bit and tore at 
their faces like wild beasts ; they carved the skin off 
their shoulders and backs, they kicked until their shin 
bones cracked, until finally both, worn out from loss 
of blood, sank into the brook anrl died. 

Tn the morning the scali)cd and mutilated form of 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 



107 



Liddena'h was discovered among the gaudy blank- 
ets and decorated buffalo robes ; a bloody trail was 
followed to the stepping stones, where the two grue- 
some corpses were found, half submerged in the red, 
bloody water, in an embrace so inextricable, their 
arms like locked battling stags' antlers that they could 
not in the rigidity of death be separated. Foes though 
they were, the just and patient Indians who found 
them could do nothing else but dig a common grave in 
the half-frozen earth, close to the stepping stones, and 
there they buried them together, with Liddenah's soggy 
scalp and their bent and broken knives, their bodies to 
comingle with earth until eternity. 




VIII 

Black Chiefs Daughter 

IT was the occasion of the annual Strawherry Dance 
at the Seneca Reservation, a lovely evening in June, 
when, after a warm rain, there had been a clear 
sunset, and the air was sweet with the odor of the grass, 
and the narrow roads were deep with soft, brown mud 
and many puddles of water. 

In the long, grey frame Council House all was 
animation and excitement. The grim old Chief, 
Twenty Canoes, decked out in his headdress of feath- 
ers, followed by the musicians with wolf-skin drums 
filled with pebbles had arrived, and taken places on 
the long bench that ran almost the entire length of 
the great hall. Other older and distinguished Indians, 
Indian guests from the Cornplanter Reservation in 
Pennsylvania, and from the New York Reservations 
at Tonawanda, and the Geneseo, and a few white vis- 
itors, including the Rev. Holt, the Town Missionary 
and Attorney Vreeland, the agent, with their families, 
completely filled the lengthy bench. 

The Indian dancers, male and female, gaily attired, 
had been gathering outside, and now, with the first 
rattle of the drums, filed into the room and began to 
dance. As the first loud tattoo was heard, the dancers 
commenced shaking their shoulders, holding their arms 
rigid, and the "Shimmy" of decadent New York and 
Philadelphia of nearly half a century later, was ren- 

108 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 109 

dered effectively by its originators, the rhythmic abori- 
gines. As they danced in single file around the visitors' 
bench and past the Chief, to the beat of the wolf skin 
drums, they melodiously chanted, first the men, and 
then the women: "Wee-Wah, Wee-Wah, Wee-Wah, 
Wanna; Wee-Wah, Wee-Wah, Wee-Wah, Wanna." 
At times the women joined in the general song, 
swelling the volume of the melody, until it drowned 
out the drum-beats. The windows were open and 
the perfume of lilacs was wafted in on the evening 
breeze, as the swaying files of Indian braves and 
maidens shimmied around and around. Among the 
white visitors was one young man who was particularly 
impressed, as he was there not out of idle curiosity, 
but to study the manners and customs of the last of the 
Senecas, in order to write his doctor's thesis at the 
University, the subject being "The Later History of 
the Seneca Indians in New York." 

Christian Trubee, for that was his name, had 
always been interested in the redmen, a natural 
heritage from pioneer and frontiersman ancestors who 
had fought the Indians all along the Allegheny ]\Ioun- 
tains and in the Ohio River basin. He had lately 
come to Steamburg, putting up at Pat Smith's "long 
house," where he had quickly become acquainted with 
Simon Black Chief, a handsome Indian youth who 
picked up a living as a mountebank among the fre- 
quenters of the ancient hostelry. 

Simon was a wonderful runner, and if he could 
interest the lumber buyers and the traveling men, would 



110 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

match himself against a Httle black mare owned by 
Smith and usually ridden by the landlord's stepson 
for a half mile or mile, and generally beat his equine 
rival. Other times he would ride the horse at a gallop, 
without saddle or bridle, over the common between the 
hotel and the Erie Railroad Station, picking up hand- 
kerchiefs, cigars and quarter dollars off the greensward 
without ever once losing his equilibrum. 

On the evening in question, he invited the young 
student to accompany him to the Strawberry Dance at 
the Council House, and passing by the one-roomed 
board shack where he lived, his sister, known as Black 
Chief's Daughter, came out and joined them, so that 
the trio proceeded single file to the scene of the festivi- 
ties. Neither Simon nor his sister danced that evening, 
but sat near their distinguished guest, explaining as 
best they could the methods and art of the performers, 
for they were very proud of the Indian dancing and 
music. As the evening progressed. Christian Trubee 
found himself admiring the Indian maid at his side 
more than he did the shimmying hordes on the floor, 
or the quaint picturesqueness of the unique ceremonial. 

Black Chief's daughter was certainly the best 
looking girl present, almost more like an American than 
an Indian in appearance, for her profile was certainly 
on refined lines, and it was only when looking her full 
in the face did the racial traits of breadth of the bridge 
of the nose, flatness of lips and deep duskiness of com- 
plexion reveal themselves. Her dark eyes were very 
clear and expressive, her teeth even and white, her 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 111 

neck and throat graceful, and her form long, lithe and 
elegant. 

Christian Trubee liked her very much, and was 
entirely absorbed by her at the time of the last beat 
of the drums when, with a loud yell, the dance con- 
cluded, and the now limp and perspiring Indian dancers 
crowded out of doors into the cool moonlight. On the 
way back Simon Black Chief led the way, his long hair 
blowing in the breeze, his sister following. Trubee did 
not follow single file, but walked beside the fair damsel. 
She was as tall as he was, though she wore deerskin 
shoes without heels. When they parted, in the long 
lush grass, before the humble cabin, she promised to 
show him some of the interesting spots on the reser- 
vation — the grave of Blacksnake, the famous chief 
and orator, the various tribal burial places, and a visit 
to King Jimmerson, who alternated with Twenty 
Canoes as President of the Seneca Nation, to see the 
silver war crowns of Red Jacket, Blacksnake and The 
Cornplanter, and to Red House to meet Jim Jacobs, 
the venerable "Seneca Bear Hunter." 

All of these excursions duly came to pass, about 
one a day, as the weather turned steadily clear, day 
after day, when the Keewaydin blew, and the distant 
mountains along The Beautiful River wore a purple 
green, and fleecy white clouds tumbled a;bout in the 
deep blue sky. On these excursions Black Chief's 
Daughter seemed to be the equal of her brother and 
Trubee as a pedestrian, was never tired, always cheerful 
and anxious to explain the various points of interest. 



112 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

At one of the graveyards she pointed out the last 
resting place of an eccentric redman known as "Indian 
Brown," with two deep, round holes in the mound, 
made according to his last wishes, because he had been 
such a bad Indian in life, that when the Devil came 
down one hole to get him, he would escape by the 
other ! 

The three young people got along famuusl}- on the 
trips and Trubee was absorbing an unusual amount of 
aboriginal history and lore, and under the most pleasant 
circumstances. While he never said a word of affection 
or even compliment to Black Chief's Daughter, he felt 
himself deeply enamored, and often, in his quiet mo- 
ments, pictured her as his wife. Once or twice came 
the answering thought, how could he, a man of so much 
education and refinement, take for life a mate who 
could not read, and whose English was little better 
than a baby's jargon? Where would he take her 
to? Would she like his life, for surely he could 
not become a squaw man on the reservation? On 
the other hand, she was gentle, sympathetic and 
thoughtful, and the blood of regal Indian ancestors 
gave her a refinement that sometimes education does 
not convey. But he was happy in the moment, as are 
most persons of adaptability of character. He was at 
home in any company, or in any circumstances, and had 
he been old enough to enlist, would have made a bril- 
liant record in the Civil War; as it was he was but ten 
years of age when the conflict ended. 

As the days wore on, each one more delightful 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES US 

than its predecessor, Simon Black Chief and his sister 
vied with one another to plan trips to points of interest. 
One evenmg Simon asked his white friend if he had 
ever seen a wolf-house, the local Indian method of 
trapping these formidahle animals. 

"What was it like, and where was there one?" was 
Trubee's instant reply. 

"A wolf-house," said Simon, "is a walled trap like 
a white man's great, big mouse-trap, with a falling 
door. There is still one preserved over at the Ox 
Bow, at the tall, stone mansion called 'Corydon,' 
across the Pennsylvania line." 

Trubee's interest was aroused, not only in the 
wolf-house, but the "tall stone mansion'* and its pos- 
sible occupants. Simon explained to him that an 
English gentleman lived there, a son-in-law of one of 
the heads of the Holland Land Company. He had 
been a great hunter in his earlier days, following 
exclusively the methods taught him by the Indians. 
It was a longer trip than any yet attempted, but Trubee 
secured Pat Smith's little l)lack mare and two other 
liorses, so that the trio departed on horseback for the 
distant manor house. Black Chief's Daughter, who 
rode astride, was a skillful and graceful horsewoman, 
even though her mount was a poor excuse of horseflesh. 

The trip along The Beautiful River was very en- 
joyable, and at length they came in sight of "Corydon" 
on the hill, above the river, a great, high, dark stone 
structure, ivy grown, standing in a group of original 
white pines, some of these venerable monarchs being 



114 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

Stag-topped, while others had lost their crests in sundry 
tempests. There was a private rope ferry across the 
river, but they rode the horses through the stream, 
which was so deep in one i)lace that the animals were 
forced to swim. They rode into the grounds, past the 
huge stone gate posts, up the hill, under the dark pines. 
As they neared the front door, the portico designed 
by the famous Latrobe, several dogs which looked like 
Scottish deerhounds rushed down from the porch and 
began to leap about tht horses' throatlatches, barking 
loudly. 

Trubee checked his horse, and asked Simon, who 
was acquainted with the family, to dismount and inquire 
if he might inspect the wolf-house, which stood on a 
heathy eminence behind the garden. Once wolves had 
been so plentiful and so bold that five of the monsters 
had been caught in the trap in the space of three 
months. 

Before Simon Black Chief could dismount, two 
figures emerged from the house, a young man and a 
young woman. Trubee's qufck glances made mental 
pictures of both. The man was about thirty-five years 
of age, short and thickset, with blond hair parted in 
the middle, a small mustache and "Burnsides." de- 
cidedlv military in his bearing. The girl was of 
medium height, jxx'^si'bly twenty years of age, decidedlv 
pretty, with Sudan brown hair, hazel eyes, clear cut 
features, a fair com])lexion and wearing a flowing 
Mother Plubbard gown of prune-colored brocade. 

Trubee rode up to them, bowing, reining his horse. 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 115 

which he turned over to Simon and, dismounting, apol- 
ogized for his intrusion. He explained how the Indian 
had told him of the curious wolf-house back of the gar- 
den and how it would help him in his researches to see 
it. The girl graciously offered to show it to him, but 
first invited the Indian girl to dismount and rest. The 
young man remained talking to the Indian, l)ut the 
Seneca maid continued to sit on her horse, rigid and 
silent as a Tanagra. On the way to the wolf-house. 
Christian Trubee introduced himself, and, being able 
to mention several mutual acquaintances, which put 
him on an easy footing with the fair chatelaine of 
"Corydon". 

The charming girl told him that she was Phillis 
Paddingstowe, the daughter of the lord of the manor, 
which made Trubee feel like saying how natural it was 
to find Phillis at Corydon! The young military-looking 
man, "the little Colonel" she called him, was Lieutenant 
Colonel Thomas Caslow, who had served with General 
Huidekoper. "the hero of Gettysburg" in that immortal 
conflict, and was at Corydon for a few days on a trout 
fishing trip. The old garden through which they passed 
on the way to the wolf-house was full of boxwood trees, 
which had been brought from Bartram's gardens in 
Philadelphia by wagon to Warren, and up the Ohe-yu 
in flat boats. They gave a spicy, aromatic odor to the 
summer afternoon atmosphere. The wolf-house was 
falling to decay, but Trubee took out his note book and 
sketched it and recorded its dimensions. It was sur- 
prising that wolves should come so close to a habita- 



116 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

tion, but Phillis stated that when she was a baby they 
had actually killed and eaten three of her father's 
favorite Scotch deerhounds in one night, though they 
were chained to kennels at the rear of the house. 

By the time they had returned from their inspec- 
tion, Clement Paddingstowe, Phillis' father, had ap- 
peared, and supplemented his daughter's cordial invi- 
tation that they stay to tea. Trubec might have re- 
mained, but Black Chief's Daughter, though she was 
again urged by Phillis and her father, semed disin- 
clined to partake of the hospitality-. They rode down 
the drive all a changed party. The Indian girl had 
heard Trubee accept an invitation to return to "Cory- 
don" in the near future, and noted his admiring glances 
at her fair person; she felt for the first time that she 
stood no chance against a white girl of gentle blood, 
though her own native antecedents were of as noble 
quality, for was she not Black Chief's Daughter, and 
the granddaughter of the undefeated warrior, Destroy- 
Town ? 

She was silent and hung her head the whole way 
back to Steamburg. Phillis, though delightfully cour- 
teous by nature, seemed a trifle distant to the little 
Colonel that evening. Simon Black Chief was piqued 
at himself for having brought unhappiness to his sister. 
Christian Trubee was in love with Phillis Padding- 
stowe. Nevertheless, the young collegian was too much 
a man of the world not to value the kindnesses be- 
stowed on him by Simon and his sister, their parents 
and other Indians of the reservation, to become sud- 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 117 

denly cold and indifferent. Yet, alone, he wondered 
why he had ever for a minute contemplated marrying 
an Indian girl, and how slight would be their spiritual 
intercourse? Yet he was here underrating Black 
Chief's Daughter, who was not of the earth-earthy, 
and had called herself to him "an imaginative person." 

He tried to be polite and attentive to the Indian 
girl, but she noted that on several occasions where she 
planned trips for certain days, he demurred on account 
of engagements at "Corydon." His manner was dif- 
ferent; the Indian girl, uncannily intuitive, would not 
be deceived. The summer wore along, and Trubee saw 
that he could not keep up pleasing Black Chief's 
Daughter, a break must come somehow. And the 
neglected maiden, unknown to him, was reading his 
every thought, and prepared to make that break first 
She had brought some late huckleberries to Pat Smith's 
wife at the long house, where she was told that Trubee 
had been absent for three days at "Corydon" ; that it 
was rumored he would marry Clement Paddingstowe's 
daughter in the Fall. 

As she walked along the path between the yellow, 
half-dead grasses, swinging the little iron pot that had 
contained the berries, she began planning for the disso- 
lution of her unhappy romance. There were many 
May apples or mandrakes ripening in the low places, 
and, stooping, she uprooted several plants, half filling 
the pot with them. Then she left the trail, and started 
across the meadow toward a group of ancient hemlock 
trees, l^cneath which was the Cold Spring. Near the 



118 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

spring were large, flat stones laid up like seats, and the 
remains of some stone hearths where the Indians often 
roasted corn. She had her flints and steel with her, 
and gathered enough dry twigs and punk to light a 
fire. Then she sat down on one of the flat stones 
and, with her hands over her face, she reviewed the 
story of her love for Truhee. He had cared for her 
at first ; that was consolation, but she was helpless 
beside the white rival ; red blood was as nothing beside 
blue. Then she nervously tramped out the fire, as if 
to start on again. This life was a very little thing, 
after all ; if her dream had failed in this existence, 
better end it, and come back again and fulfill it. even 
as a flower or bird ; it was impossible to prevent living 
again. She began to munch the roots of the May apples 
which she had gathered, and then began to walk across 
the fields toward the graveyard which contained the 
tomb of "Indian Brown," the bad man. 

As she came near the road which led to "Corydon" 
she made an efiPort to run across it, but in the middle 
of it a dizziness seized her, then a sharp pain, and she 
staggered and dropped in a heap, the dust rising from 
the dry highway as she fell. The sand got in her eyes, 
nose and mouth as she lay on the path, her legs twisting 
in convulsive spasms. The sun was beginning to sink 
close to the tops of the long, rolling summits of the 
western mountains as the form of a horseman came in 
sight away down the long stretch of level road. It was 
Christian Trubee returning from "Corydon," flushed 
with the progress of his love making with the fair and 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 119 

dainty Phillis Paddingstowe. He saw a black object 
in the road; a wool sack fallen from some wagon, was 
his first conjecture. Coming closer, he perceived it to 
be a human being, a woman, Black Chief's Daughter. 

He threw the bridle rein over the little mare's head 
and sprang to the ground. As he caught the limp form 
of the Indian girl in his arms, she half opened her eyes 
and looked up at him. 

"Oh, Mr. Trubee, let me be, I pray of you ; let me 
stay here and die ; I haven't anything more to live for 
since we visited at 'Corydon'." 

The young man did not know how to answer her, 
for he was honest always. He lifted her on the saddle 
behind him, holding the long, lean arms around his 
waist, while her head bobbed on his shoulder, and 
started the little trappy black at a trot for the long 
house. It was supper time as he neared the old hotel. 
In order to avoid attention, he rode up to the kitchen 
door, at the back of the house. A small, ugly, very 
black colored boy, with a banjo, from Jamestown, was 
strumming a Negro melody to amuse the cooks. 

"Get on this horse quick, boy," Trubee called to 
him, as he dismounted with his limp burden, "and bring 
over Doctor Forrester; Black Chief's Daughter is in a 
bad way from poison." 

Pat Smith's wife and the other cooks ran out. and, 
taking in the situation at a glance, carried the almost 
unconscious but uncomplaining girl into the house 
where they laid her on a bench in the dance hall, all 
unknown to the guests, munching their huckleberry 



120 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

pie in the nearby dining room. The Doctor's buggy 
was standing in front of his cottage, and putting his 
horse to a gallop he raced the little Negro back to the 
hotel. It did not take him long, as he was a noted 
herbalist, to diagnose the case as poison from May 
apple root, very deadly, but a drastic Indian emetic, 
administered just in time, preserved her life. 

It was a grisly scene in the bare, cheerless ball 
room ; Black Chief's daughter, all undressed, lay on 
a bench, while old Black Chief, her father, and Taleeka, 
her mother, Simon, Pat Smith, his wife, his daughter, 
Sally Ann, Doctors Forrester and Colegrove, and 
Christian Trubee stood near her, or coming and going, 
most of them holding lighted candles, which cast fretful 
shadows against the walls and close-shuttered windows 
of this scene of much former ribald merrymaking. All 
present knew why the girl had sought to take her life, 
yet not a single accusing word was uttered. All wanted 
to save her — for what? Later she was carried into one 
of the adjoining guest rooms and put to bed. 

Somewhat later Pat Smith's wife, a motherly 
woman, met Trubee in the hall, saying to him : 

"Won't you please let me whisper to her that you 
are happy her life is saved, and that you will marry licr 
as soon as she is able?" 

The young man hesitated, then faltered : "I rather 
you'd not say it just now." 

When she was almost to the door he ran after her, 
saying: "Tell her what you suggested, in my presence. ' 

He followed her into the room. The landlady 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 121 

bent over the stricken girl and gave her the message. 
Black Chief's daughter looked up at Tru'bee, and 
trying to smile, said : 

"I can't do it ; all I ask is that everything be as it 
was before you came to the Reservation." 

"Which means", said the young man, "that I re- 
turn to the University, having everything as il was 
before we went to the Strawberry dance, or before 
you took me to 'Corydon' ". 

"That is exactly my meaning", the girl whispered 
faintl}\ "Then all will be well". 

"I think I can gather my things together and make 
the three o'clock train east this morning; it is only 
right that I should go ; I have made everybody un- 
happy since I came here." 

"Oh, no!" replied Black Chief's daughter, "only 
me, and then only since the trip to 'Corydon'." 

With a lingering hand clasp they parted, and 
Christian Trubee, like one dazed by his unsuccessful 
tilt with Fate, moved off towards his room,, not know- 
ing whether to be glad or sorry, but secretly eased in 
spirit for accepting the only course that would extri- 
cate him from his triangular dilenmia. 

After he was gone. Black Chief's daughter fell 
into a peaceful slumber and did not wake, even when 
the roaring express train, with its blazing headlight, 
slowed down at Steamburg for its solitary eastbound 
passenger. 



IX. 

The Gorilla 

IF Sir Rider Haggard was a Pennsylvaniaii he would 
doubtless lay the scenes of his wonderful mystery 

stories in Snyder County. It is in that ruggedly 
picturesque mountainous county where romance has 
taken its last stand, where tiie old touches the new, and 
ghosts, goblins and witches and memories of panthers, 
W'olves and Indians linger in cycle after cycle of imag- 
inative reminiscences. Every now and then, even 
in this dull, unsympathetic age, when the world, as 
Artist Shearer puts it , ''is aesthetically dead", Snyder 
County is thrilled by some new ghost, witch, panther 
or mystery story. The latest of these in the last days 
of 1920 and the first of li)21 — the giant gorilla — has 
thrilled the entire Commonwealth by its uni(|ue horror. 

The papers have told us how a gigantic man-ape 
escaped from a carnival train near Williamsport, and 
seeking the South, fled over the mountains to Snyder 
County, where it attacked a small boy, breaking his 
arm, held up automobiles, rifled smoke houses and 
the like, and then appeared in Snyder Tow^iship, 
Blair County, still further South, his nocturnal ram- 
blings in that region proving an effective curfew for 
the young folks of a half-do/en rural communities. 

This story sounds thrillingly interesting, but as 
gorillas live on fruit, and do not eat flesh, the animal 
in question would have starved or frozen to death at 

122 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 123 

the outset of his career in the Alleghenies, and there 
the "X", uriknown quantity of the real story begins. 
The newspapers have only printed the most popular 
versions of the gorilla mystery, only a fraction of the 
romance and folk-lore that spra'ng up mushroom-like 
around the presence of such an alien monster in our 
highlands. Already enough has been whispered 
about to fill a good sized volume, most of it absolutely 
untrue, yet some of the talcs, if they have not hit the 
real facts, have come dangerously close to it. 

Let the readers judge for themselves. Probably 
one of the most widely circulated versions among the 
Snyder County mountaineers, the hardy dwellers in 
the fastnesses of the Shade, Jack's and White Moun- 
tains, is the one about to be related. It is too per- 
sonal to warrant promiscuous newspapers publication, 
and even now all names have been changed and locali- 
ties altered, but to a Snyder County Mountaineer "all 
things are plain". This is the "authoritative", confi- 
dential Snyder County version, unabridged : 

To begin with, all the mountain people know 
Hombostl Pfatteicher, whose log cabin is situated 
near the heading of Lost Creek, on the borders of 
Snyder and Juniata Counties. He has never been 
much of a worker, living mostly by hunting and fish- 
ing, prospering greatly during the days when the 
State raised the bounty on foxes and wild cats to an 
outrageously extravagant figure — but no one cares ; 
let the hunter's license fund be plundered and the 
taxpayers be jammed. 



124 ALLEGHENY BPISODES 

lie was also ven- noticeable during the Spring 
and I'all forest fires, which never failed to burn some 
part of his mountain liailiwick annuall\-. lie was 
opposed to Forester Bartschat, regarding him as too 
alert and intuitive, and made valiant efiforts through 
his political bosses to have him transferred or re- 
moved. He was regular in his politics, could always 
have a hearing at Harrisburg, and though an ardent 
fisherman, saw no harm in the dynamiting or liming 
of streams, and upheld the right of "the interests" to 
pollute the waterways with vile filth from paper mills 
and tanneries. In other words he was, and probably 
is, typical of the professional mountaineer that the 
politicians, through the nefarious bounty laws, have 
maintained in the foretsts, to the detriment of re- 
forestation and wild life. 

Hornbostl, about 1915, was in love with a comely 
mountain girl, Beulah Fuchspuhr. the belle of Lost 
Creek Valley, but he was away from home so much, 
and so indifferent, and so much in his cups when in 
the neighborhood that she found time to become 
enamored of a tie-jobber named 1 Iciiiie Beery, and 
ran away with him to Pitt.s;burg. 

During the flu epidemic, about 'the time of the 
Armistice, she was seized with the dreaded malady, 
and passed away, aged twenty-eight years. 

Hornbostl was in the last draft, but the Armis- 
tice was signed before he was called to the colors, 
much to the regret of the better element, for he was 
the sole pro-German in the mountains — a snake in a 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 125 

brood of eaglets — and all allowed he should have been 
given a chance to fight his beloved Kaiser. Though 
his name had a Teutonic flavor, he was only remote- 
ly of German ancestry, and should have known better 
than to root for a despotism — he, above all others, 
whose sole creed was personal liberty when it came 
to interfering with his "vested rights" of hunting and 
fishing out of season, and all other privileges of a 
lawless backwoodsman. 

After attending the funeral of his wife in Pitts- 
burg, he took the train to Philadelphia, and while 
there the news of the Armistice was received, con- 
sequently his grief was assuaged by this very satisfy- 
ing information. He boarded on one of the back 
streets in the southern part of the Quaker City, in a 
rear room, which looked out on an allev where there 
were still a numiber of private stables or mews, oc- 
cupied for the most part by the horses and carriages 
of the aristocracy. 

Hornbostl liked to sit at the window after his 
day's work at Hog Island, smoking his stogie and 
watching the handsome equipages coming and going, 
the liveried colored coachmen, the long-tailed horses, 
with their showy brass mounted harness, with jingling 
trappings, the animated groups of grooms, stable 
boys and hangers-on. Some of the darkies kept 
game roosters, and these occasionally strutted out into 
tlie alley and crowed when there was bright sunshine 
anrl the wind came from the "Summer Islands". 

One afternoon he saw a strange spectacle enacted 



126 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

at the stable opposite his window. A large collection 
of moth-eaten and dusty stuffed animals and birds were 
unloaded from a dray — stuffed elks, horns and all, 
several buffalo heads, four timber wolves, with a red 
bear like they used to have in Snyder County, a gold- 
en eagle, with tattered flopping wings and a great 
black beast that stood upright like a man were the 
most conspicuous objects. A crowd of mostly Negro 
children congregated as the half a hundred mangy 
specimens of this "silent zoo" became too much for 
Hornbostl, and putting his stogie between his teeth, 
sallied out the back door, hatless and in liis shirt 
sleeves, a brawny rural giant who towered above the 
puny citified crow 1. 

He was greatly interested in that huge black 
beast which stood upright, and could not quite classify 
it, though its hair was like that of a bb.ck bear in its 
summer pelage. He sought out the tall Negro coach- 
man who was in charge of the stable, and asked why 
a museum was being unloaded at that particular 
moment. 

"Yer see its jest dis way", said the darkey, confi- 
dentially, "old Major Ourry have died an' 'is heirs dey 
didn't want de stuff about, so dey sent 'em down to de 
stable fer me to put in de empty box stalls". 

As the conversation progressed the Negro inti- 
mated that the aforementioned heirs would be glad 
to sell any or all of the specimens at a reasonable 
figure. 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 127 

"I'll give you ten dollars for that big animal that 
looks like a cross between a Snyder County black bear 
and a prize fighter", said Ilornbostl. 

"The gorilla, you mean", interposed the darkey. 

"Yes, I mean the gorilla", answered the back- 
woodsman. 

"It's yours", said the Negro with a grin, for he 
was to get half of the proceeds of all sales. He won- 
dered why the uncouth stranger wanted a stuffed 
gorilla, but of all the animals in the collection, lie was 
most pleased to get rid of that hideous efifigy, the man- 
ape that might come to life some dark cold night and 
raise ructions with the horses. 

Hornbostl offered five dollars more if the Xegro 
would box the monster, and they finally arranged to 
■box it together; and keep it in the stable until he would 
be let out at Hog Island. Eventually they got it to 
the freight station, billed to ^.leiserville. 

At the time of the purchase it is doubtful if 
Hornbostl had any definite idea of what he was going 
to do with his "find", all that came later. Hornbostl 
was glad to return to his mountain heme, and sank 
complacently back in his seat on the ILSO A. M. 
train for Selins Grove Junction. It was an unevent- 
ful trip, for he was an unimaginative person, taking 
everything as a matter of course, though he did notice 
an unusually pretty high school girl with a wonder- 
fully refined face and carriage, who got off the train 
at Dauphin, and followed her with his eyes as she 
walked along the street back of the station and across 



128 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

the bridge that spans Stony Creek, until the moving 
train shut her from view behind Fasig's Tavern. He 
thought that he had never seen anything quite so love- 
ly before; if his late sweetheart who had run away 
had been one quarter as beautiful and elegant she 
would be worth worrying about. 

He reached Meiserville well after dark, for it 
was almost the shortest day of the year, and put up 
there for the night. In the morning he inquired at 
the freight office for his consignment, but hardly ex- 
pected it that soon. He had to wait three days before 
it arrived, but when it did, he secured a team which 
hauled it to his mountain retreat, depositing the crate 
in front of his door. After the teamster with his 
pair of heavy horses, decked out with jingling bells, 
departed, Hornbostl unpacked his treasure, and the 
huge, grinning man-ape stood before him, seven feet 
tall. It was set ilp on a platform with castors, so he 
ran it into the house, leaving it beside the old-fash- 
ioned open fireplace, where he used to sit opposite 
his mother while they both smoked their pipes in the 
old days. 

That night after supfK-r, when the raftered room 
was (lark, save for one small glass kerosene lamp, and 
the fitful light of the embers, the mountaineer sat and 
smoked, trying to conjure vip tlie history of the hid- 
eous monster facing him across the inglcnook. In- 
stead of evolving anything interesting or definite, the 
evil genius of the nian-apc. as ihe evening ])rogressed, 
seemed to take complete possession of him. He be- 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 129 

came tilled with vicious, revengeful thoughts ; all the 
hate in his nature was drawn to the surface as the 
firelight flashed on the glass eyes and grinning teeth 
of the monstrous jungle king. All at once the mael- 
strom of nasty thoughts assumed coherent form, and 
he realized why he had brought tiie gorilla to Snyder 
County. 

He had heard since going to Philadelphia that 
the hated Heinie Beery had taken a tie contract on the 
Blue Knob, the second highest mountain in Pennsyl- 
vania, somewhere on the line between Blair and Bed- 
ford Counties. He wanted to kill his rival, and now 
would be a chance to do it and escape detection. He 
would dress himself up in the hide, and proceed over- 
land to Snyder Township, reconnoitre there, lind his 
victim and choke him to death, which the Negro 
coachman had told him was the chief pastime of live 
gorillas in the African wilds. 

Suiting the action to the word, he drew his long 
knife and began cutting the heavy threads which 
sewed the hide over the manikin. He soon had the 
hide lying on the deal floor,and a huge white statue 
of lath and plaster of Paris stood before him, like an 
archaic ghost. He did not like the looks of the mani- 
kin, so pounded it to a pulp with an axe to lime his 
kitchen garden. The hide was as stifif as a board, but 
between the heat of the Fire and bear's grease he had 
it fairly pliable by morning. By the next night it 
was in still better shape,, so he donned it and sewed 
himself in. Physically he was not unlike the man- 



130 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

ape, being gross about the abdomen, sloping shoulder- 
ed and long-armed, while his prognathous jaw and 
retreating forehead were perfect counterparts of the 
gorilla's physiognomy. 

Arming himself with a long ironwood staff, he 
started on his journey towards the Blue Knob coun- 
try, lie had to cross the Christunn X'alley in order 
to get into Jack's Mountain, which he would follow 
along the summits to Mount Union. It was a dark, 
starless night, and all went well until he suddenly 
came upon the scene of a nocturnal wood chopping 
operation. The wood-cutter, a railroader, had no 
other chance to lay in his winter's fuel ?u])ply than 
after dark, and by the light of a lantern placed on a 
large stuni]) liad already stacked up a goodly lot of 
cordwood. His son, a boy of fourteen, was ranking 
the wood. At the moment of the gorilla-man's ap- 
pearance in the clearing the man had gone to the 
house for a cup of hot coffee, leaving the lad alone at 
his work. The boy heard the heavy footfalls on the 
chips, and thinking his father was returning, looked 
up and beheld the most hideous thing that his eyes had 
ever looked upon. He uttered a shriek of terror, but 
before he could o])en his lips a second lime the '"go- 
rilla" was upon him, slapping his mouth until the 
blood flowed, with one brawny paw, while he wrench- 
ed his arm so severely with the other that he left it 
limp and broken, hanging by his side. Then the 
monster, looking back over his shoulder, loped off 
into the deep forest at the foot of Jack's [Mountain. 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 131 

The boy, more dead than ahve from fright, was 
found a few minutes later by his father, to whom he 
described his terrible assailant. 

After that the man-ape was more careful when 
he traveled, although he was seen by half a dozen per- 
sons until he got safely to the vicinity of "the Mon- 
arch of ^fountains". 

Blue Knob is a weird and impressive eminence 
around which many legends cluster, some of them 
dating back to Indian days. Its altitude at the new 
steel forest fire tower is 3,165 feet above tide. "The 
Lost Children of the Alleghenies" is a beautiful word 
picture of the disappearance of two little tots on the 
slopes of Blue Knob, from the gifted pen of Rev. 
James A. Sell, of HoUidaysburg. 

Heinie Beery was living alone in a small shack 
on Poplar Run, a stream whicli has its heading on the 
slopes of Blue Knob, not far from the home of the 
mighty hunter, Peter Leighty. Since the loss of his 
wife he was gloomy and taciturn, and refused to live 
with his choppers and teamsters in their big camp 
further down in the hollow. 

While searching for Beery, the man-gorilki was 
seen by several of the woodsmen, and the lonely 
camp was almost in a panic by this savage visitation. 
The man-ape was glad that his outlandish appearance 
struck terror to all who saw him, else he might have 
been captured long before. He watched his cliance 
to get Beery where he wanted him. and in the course 
of several days was rewarded. Meanwhile he had 
to live somewhow, and at dead of night broke inm 



132 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

smoke-houses and cellars, eatinij raw eggs and butter 
when hunger pressed him hard. In some ways it was 
no fun playing gorilla on an empty stomach. 

One Sunday afternoon Beery, after eating din- 
ner with his crew at their camp near the mouth of 
the hollow, started on a solitary ramble up the ravine 
which led past the small shanty where in the local 
vernacular, he "bached it" towards the top of the 
vast and mysterious Blue Knob. Little did he kntiw 
that the man-ape was waiting behind his cabin, and 
followed him to the summit, which he reached about 
dusk, and sat on a flat rock on the brink of a dizzy 
precipice watching the lights flashing up at Altoona 
and Johnstown, the long trains winding their way 
around Horse Shoe Curve. He heard the brush 
crack behind him, and looking around l)eheld the 
hideous monster that he had supposed his workmen 
had conjured up out of brains addled by too much 
home-brew. 

Heinie Beery was a fighting Dutchman, but on 
this occasion his curly black hair stood straight on 
end, and his dark florid face became as ashen as 
death. He lost his self-control for an instant, and 
in this fatal moment the giant "gorilla" gripped him 
behind the shoulders and sent him careening over the 
precipice "to take a short cut to Altoona". 

With a shout of glee the monster turned on his 
heel, his mission accomplished, to return along the 
mountains and tlirough the forests to his cabin near 
the sources of Lost Creek. He was seen bv a nmn- 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 133 

ber of children at Hollidaysburg and Frankstown, 
late at night, frightening them almost out of their 
wits; he terrified several parties of automobilists 
near Yellow Springs ; he had all of Snyder Township 
in an uproar before he had passed through it, but he 
eventually got to Shade Mountain safe and sound. 

Once on his home mountains, overlooking Lewis- 
town Narrows, a strange remorse overcame him ; he 
began to regret his folly, his odd caprice. He sat on 
a high rock near the top of the mountain, much in the 
attitude of Rodin's famous "Penseur", and began to 
sob and moan. It was a still night, and the track- 
walkers down in the valley heard him and called to 
him through their megaphones. Rut the more they 
called the worse he groaned and shrieked, as if he 
liked to mystify the lonely railroad men. At length 
he got up and started along the mountain top, wail- 
ing and screaming like a "Token", until out of hear- 
ing of tlie trackwalkers and the crews of waiting 
freight trains. He had played a silly game, made a 
monkey of himself and was probably now a murderer 
in the bargain. He could hardly wait until lie got to 
his cabin to rip off the hideous, ill-smelling gorilla's 
hide, and make a bonfire of it. He hoped that, if no 
evil consequence l)cfell him as a result of his mad 
prank, he would be a better man in the future. 

However, as he neared his cabin, all his good re- 
solves began to ooze out of his finger tips. By the 
time he reached the miserable cabin he decided to 
stick to his dissfuise, and continue the adventure to 



134 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

the end, come what may. If he would be shot down 
like a vile beast, it would only be retribution for 
Heinie Beery hurled off the crag of Blue Knob, with- 
out a chance to defend himself. The night was long; 
he would travel until morning and hide among the 
rocks until night, picking up what food he could along 
the way. 

In his northward journey he had many thrilling 
experiences, such as crossing the covered bridge at 
Northumberland at midnight, riding on the trucks of 
a freight train to Jersey Shore and frightening fisher- 
men at Hagerman's Run, When last seen he was 
near the flourishing town of Woolrich, frightening 
old and young, so much so that a young local sports- 
man offered a reward of "five hundred dollars dead, 
one thousand dollars alive", putting the Snyder 
County gorilla in the same category with the Passen- 
ger Pigeon as a natural history curiosity. 

And in this terrible disguise Hornbostl Pfat- 
teicher is expiating his sins, black as the satanic form 
he has assumed, and when his penance is over, to be 
shed for the newer and better life. 



X. 

The Indian's Twilight 

ACCORDING to Daniel Mark, born in 1835, 
(died 1922), when the aged Seneca Indian, Isaac 
Steel, stood beside the moss-grown stump of the 
giant "Grandfather Pine" in Sugar Valley, in the early 
Autumn of 1892, he was silent for a long while, then 
placing his hands over his eyes, uttered these words : 
"This is the Indians' Twilight; it explains many 
things ; I had heard from from Billy Dowdy, when 
he returned to the reser\.'ation in 1879, that the tree 
had been cut by Pardee, but as he had not seen the 
stump, and was apt to be credulous, I had hoped that 
the report was untrue ; the worst has happened." 

Then the venerable Redman turned away, and 
that same day left the secluded valley, never to return. 

The story of the Grandfather Pine, of Sugar 
\' alley, deserves more than the merely passing men- 
tion already accorded it in forestry statistics and the 
like. Apart from being probably the largest white 
or cork pine recorded in the annals of Pennsylvania 
sylviculture — breast high it had to be deeply notched 
on both sides, so that a seven foot cross-cut saw could 
be used on it — it was the sacred tree of the Seneca In- 
dians, and doubtless of the earlier tribes inhabiting the 
country adjacent to the Allegheny Mountains and the 
West Branch Valley. 

It was a familiar landmark for years, standing as 

135 



136 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

il did near the mouth of Chadwick's Gap, and could be 
seen towering above its fellows, from every point in 
Sugar Valley, from Schracktown, Loganton, Eastville 
and Carroll. 

Professor Ziegler tells us that the maximum or 
heavy growth of white pine was always on the winter 
side of the inland valleys; the biggest pines of Sugar 
Valley, Brush Valley and Penn's Valley were all along 
the southern ridges. 

Luther Guiswhite. now a restauranteur in Ilar- 
risburg, moving like a voracious caterpillar easterly 
along the Winter side of Brush Valley, gradually de- 
stroyed grove after grove of superb original white 
pines, the Gramley pines, near the mouth of Gramley's 
Gap, which Professor Henry Meyer helped to "cruise", 
being the last to fall before his relentless juggernaut. 

Ario Pardee's principal pineries were mostly 
across the southern ridge of Nittany Mountain, of 
Sugar \'alley, on White Deer Creek. l)ut the tract on 
which the Grandfather Pine stood ran like a tongue 
out of Chadwick's Gap into Sugar \'alley. almost to 
the l)ank of Fishing Creek. It is a well known story 
that after the mammoth pine had been cut, Mike Court- 
ney, the lumberman-philanthropist's woods boss, offer- 
ed $100 to anyone who could transport it to White 
Deer Creek, to be floated to the big mill at Watson- 
town, where Pardee sawed 111.000,000 feet of the 
finest kind of white pine between 1868 and. 1878. 

The logs of this great tree proved too huge to 
liandle. even after ])eing split asunder by blasting 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 137 

powder, crushing down a number of trucks, and were 
left to rot where they lay. Measured when prone, 
the stem was 270 feet in length, and considering that 
the stump was cut breast high, the tree wa? probably 
close to 276 feet from root to tip. The stump is still 
visible and well worthy of a visit. 

In addition to boasting of the biggest pine in the 
Commonwealth, one of the biggest red hemlocks also 
grew in Sugar Valley, in the centre of Kleckner's 
woods, until it was destroyed by bark peelers in 1898. 
It dwarfed the other original trees in the grove, mostly 
superb white hemlocks, and an idea of its size can be 
gained when it is stated that "breast high" it had a 
circumference of 30 feet. 

When Billy Dowdy, an eccentric Seneca Indian, 
was in Sugar \'alley he told 'Squire Mark the story 
of the Grandfather Pine, then recently felled, and 
while the Indian did not visit the "fallen monarch" on 
that occasion, he refrained from so doing because he 
said he could not bear the sight. The greatest dis- 
aster that had yet ])efallen the Indians had occurred, 
one that they might never recover from, and meant 
their final elimination as factors in American history. 

Dowdy seemed unnerved when he heard the story 
of the demolition of the colossal pine, and it took sev- 
eral visits to the famous Achenbach distillery to 
steady his nerves so that he could relate its history to 
his old and tried friend the 'Squire. In the evening, 
by the fireside, showing emotion that rarely an Indian 



138 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

betrays, he dramatically recited the story of the fallen 
giant. 

Long years ago, in the very earliest days of the 
world's history, the great earth spirit loved the even- 
ing star, but it was such an unusual and unnatural at- 
tachment, and so imj^ossible of consummation that the 
despairing spirit wished to end the cycle of existence 
and pass into oblivion so as to forget his hopeless 
love. Accordingly, with a blast of lightning he open- 
ed his side and let his anguish flow away. The great 
gaping wound is what we of today call Penn's Cave, 
and the never ending stream of anguish is the wonder- 
ful shadowy Karoondinha, now renamed John Penn's 
Creek. 

As time went on fresh hopes entered the subter- 
ranean breast of the great earth spirit, and new aspira- 
tions towards the evening star kindled in his heart of 
hearts. His thoughts and yearnings were constantly 
onward and upward towards the evening star. He 
sought to bridge the gulf of space and distance that 
separated him from the clear pure light of his inspir- 
ation. He yearned to be near, even if he could not 
possess the calm and cold constellation so much be- 
yond him. He cried for an answer, but none came, 
and thought that it was distance that caused the cold- 
ness, and certainly such had caused the great disap- 
pointment in the past. 

Tlis heart was set on reaching the evening star, to 
have propinquity with the heavens. Out of his strong 
hopes and deep desires came a tall and nol)le tree, grow- 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 139 

ing in eastern Sugar Valley, a king among its kindred, 
off there facing the shining, beaming star. This tree 
would be the symbol of earth's loftiest and highest 
aspirations, the bridge between the terrestrial and the 
celestial bodies. It was earth's manliest, noblest and 
cleanest aspiration, standing there erect and immobile, 
the heavy plates of the bark like gilt-bronze armor, the 
sparse foliage dark and like a warrior's crest. 

The Indians, knowing full well the story of the 
hopeless romance of the earth spirit and the evening 
star, or Venus, as the white men called it, venerated 
the noble tree as the connecting link between two ma'> 
ifestations of sublimity. They only visited its proxim- 
ity on sacred occasions because they knew that the 
grove over which it dominated was the abode of 
spirits, like all groves of trees of exceptional size and 
venerable age. 

The cutting away of most of the bodies of origi- 
nal pines has circumscribed the abode of the spiritual 
agencies until they are now almost without a lodge- 
ment, and must go wailing about cold and homeless 
until the end of time, unless spiritual insight can 
touch our materialistic age and save the few remain- 
ing patches of virgin trees standing in the valley of 
the Karoondinha. the "Stream of the Never Ending 
Love", now known by the prosaic cognomen of "Penn's 
\'alley". 

The Tom IMotz tract is no more, the W'ilkenblech. 
the Bowers and the Meyer groves are all but annihi- 
lated. Where will tlie spirits rest when the last orig- 



140 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

inal white pine has been ripped into boards at The 
Forks, now called Colnirn? Xo wonder that Artist 
Shearer exclaimed. "The world is aesthetically dead" ! 

The Indians were greatly dismayed at the incur- 
sion of white men into their mountain fastnesses, so 
contrary to ])rophecy and solemn treaties, and no 
power seemed to stem them as they swei)t like a plague 
from valley to valley, mountain to mountain. The 
combined military strategy and bravery of Lenni- 
Lenape, Seneca, Cayuga, Tuscarora and Shawnee fail- 
ed before their all-concjuering advance. How to turn 
back this white peril occupied the mind and heart of 
every Indian brave and soothsayer. 

One evenin^^ just as \'enus in the east was shed- 
ding her tranquil glorv over the black outline of the 
pine covered ranges of the Nittanies, a mighty council 
of warriors and wise men, grave and reverent, assem- 
bled under the Grandfather Pine. Hitherto victory, 
while it had rested with the white invaders, had not 
been conclusive; there was still hope, and the Indians 
meant to battle to the end. 

It was during this epochal conclave that a mes- 
sage was breathed out of the dark shaggy pigeon- 
haunted toi)s of the mighty tree. Inter])reted it meant 
that the Indian l)ra\es and wise men were reminded 
that this great pine reached from heaven to earth, and 
by its means their ancestors used to climb up and down 
between the two regions. In a time of doubt and 
anxiety like this, the multitudes, conferring beneath 
the tree, were invited to ascend to hold a council with 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 141 

the stars, to exchange views and receive advice as to 
how the insidious white invader could be kept in 
proper bounds, and to preserve the glory and historic 
dignity of the Indian races. The stars, which were 
the spirits of undefeated warriors and hunters and 
huntresses of exceptional prowess — their light was the 
shimmer of their silvery targets — had always been the 
allies of the red men. 

In solemn procession the pick of the assemblage 
of Indian warriors and wise men ascended the mighty 
tree, up, up, up, until their forms became as tiny 
specks, and disappeared in the dark lace-like branches 
which merged with the swart hues of the evening 
heavens. They set no time for their return, for they 
were going from the finite to the infinite, but they 
would be back to their beloved hills and valleys in 
plenty of time, and with added courage and skill, to 
end the regime of the pale faced foes. 

Every wife and mother and sweetheart of a war- 
rior who took this journey was overjoyed at the privi- 
lege accorded her loved one, and none begrudged being 
left behind to face the enemy under impaired leader- 
ship, or the risk of massacre, as in due course of time 
the elite would return from above and rescue them 
from their cruel tormentors. 

Evidently out of space, out of time, was almost 
the equivalent of "out of sight, out of mind" for all 
who had witnessed the chosen band of warriors and 
warlocks ascend the pine, even the tiny babes, reached 
maturity and passed away, and yet they had not re- 



142 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

turned or sent a message. The year that the stars fell, 
in 1833, brought hopes to the anxious ones, but never 
a falling star was found to bring tidings from that 
bourne above the clouds. 

Generation after generation came and went, and 
the ablest leaders still were absent counseling with the 
stars. Evidently there was much to learn, much to 
overcome, before they were fully fledged to return and 
battle successfully. 

The succeeding generations of Indian braves 
fought the white foes as best they could, yet were ever 
being pushed back, and they were long since banished 
from Sugar \'alley where grew the Grandfather Pine. 
Occasionally those gifted with historic lore and 
prophecy journeyed to the remote valley to view the 
pine, but there were no signs of a return of the absent 
chieftains. 

It was a long and weary wait. Were they really 
forsaken, or were there affairs of great emergency in 
the realm of the evening star that made them tarry so 
long? They might be surprised on their return to 
find their hunting territories the farms of the white 
men, their descendants banished to arid reservations 
on La Belle Riviere and beyond. They had left in the 
twilight ; they would find the Indians' Twilight every- 
where over the face of the earth. It was a sad pros- 
pect, but they never gave up their secret hope that 
the visitors to strange lands would return, and lead a 
forlorn hope to victory. 

Then came upon the scene the great lumberman, 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 143 

Ario Pardee. The bed of White Deer Creek was 
"brushed out" from Schreader Spring to Hightown, 
to float the miUions of logs that would pile up wealth 
and fame for this modern Croesus. What was one 
tree, more or less — none were sacred, and instead of 
being the abode of spirits, each held the almighty dol- 
lar in its heart. 

Pardee himself was a man of dreams and an 
idealist, vide Lafayette College, and the portrait of his 
refined and spiritual face by Eastman Johnson, in the 
rotunda of "Old Pardee". Yet it was too early a day 
to care for trees, or to select those to be cut, those to 
be spared ; the biggest tree, or the tree where the buffa- 
loes rubbed themselves, were alike before the axe and 
cross-cut ; all must fall, and the piratical-looking Black- 
beard Courtney was the agent to do it. 

Perhaps trees take their revenge, like in the case 
of the Vicar's Oak in Surrey, as related by the diarest 
Evelyn — shortly after it was felled one of the choppers 
lost an eye and the other broke a leg. ^like Courtney, 
it is reported, ended his days, not in opulent ease lolling 
in a barouche in Fairmount Park with Hon. Levi 
Mackey, as had been his wont, but by driving an ox- 
team in the wilds of West \'irginia ! 

The Grandfather Pine was brought to earth after 
two days of chopping by an experienced crew of 
woodsmen; when it fell they say the window' lights 
rattled clear across the valley in Logansville (now 
Loganton). It lay there prone, abject, yet "terrible 
still in death", majestic as it sprawled in the bed that 



144 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

had been prepared for it, with an open swath of forest 
about that it had maimed and pulled down in its fall. 

Crowds flocked from all over the adjacent valleys 
to see the fallen monarch, like Arabs viewing the hfe- 
less carcass of a mighty lion whose roar had filled 
them with terror but a little while before. 

Then came the misfortune that the tree was found 
to be commercially unprofitable to handle, and it was 
left for the mould and the moss and the shelf-fungi to 
devour, for little hemlocks to sprout upon. 

Billy Dowdy was in the West Branch Valley 
trying to rediscover the Bald Eagle Silver Mine — old 
Uriah Fisher, of the Seventh Cavalry, can tell you all 
about it — when the story was told at "Uncle Dave" 
Cochran's hotel at Pine Station that Mike Courtney 
had conquered the Grandfather Pine. It is said that 
a glass ol the best Reish whiskey fell from his nerve- 
less fingers when he heard the news. He suddenly 
lort all interest in the silver mine on the Bald Eagle 
Mountain, which caused him to be roundly berated 
by his employers, and dropping everything, he made 
for Sugar Valley to verify the terrible story. 'Squire 
Mark assured him that it was only too true ; he had 
strolled over to Chadwick's Gap the previous Sunday 
and saw the prostrate Titan with his own eyes. 

The Indians' twilight had come, for now the 
picked band of warriors and warlocks must forever 
linger in the star-belt, unless the earth spirit, out of 
his great love, again heaved such a tree from his in- 
most creative consciousness. 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 145. 

Somtimes the Indians notice an untoward bright 
twinkhng of the stars, the evening star in particular,, 
and they fancy it to be reassuring messages from their 
marooned leaders not to give up the faith, that some- 
times they can return rich in wisdom, fortified in cour- 
age, ready to drive the white men into the sea, and over 
it to the far Summer Islands. When the stars fell on 
the thirteenth of November, 1833, it was thought that 
the starry hosts were coming down en masse to fight 
their battles, but not a single steller ally ever reported 
for duty. 

Old John Engle, mighty Nimrod of Brungard's 
Church (Sugar Valley), on the nights of the North- 
ern Lights, or as the Indians called them, "The Danc- 
ing Ghosts", used to hear a strange, weird, unaccount- 
able ringing echo, like exultant shouting, over in the 
region of the horizon, beyond the northernmost 
Allegheny ridges. He would climb the "summer" 
mountain all alone, and sit on the highest summits, 
thinking that the wolves had come back, for he wanted 
to hear them plainer. In the Winter of LS59 the dis- 
tant acclamation continued for four successive nights. 
and the Aurora covered the entire vault of heaven with 
a preternatural l)rilliance. Great bars of intensely 
bright light shot out from the northern horizon and 
broke in mid-sky. and filled the southern skies with 
their incandescence. The sky was so intensely red that 
it flared as one great sheet of fire, and engulfed the 
niuht with an awful and dismal red light. Reflected 



146 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 



on the snow, it gave the earth the appearance of being 
clothed in scarlet. 

The superstitious Indians, huddled, cold and half- 
clad, and half -starved in the desert reservations, when 
they saw the fearful glow over beyond Lake Erie, 
and heard the distant cadences, declared that they 
were the signal fires and the cries for vengeance of 
the Indian braves imprisoned up there in star-land, 
calling defiance to the white hosts, and inspiration to 
their own depleted legions, the echo of the day of reck- 
oning, when the red men would come to their own 
again, and finding their lost people, lead them to a new 
light, out of the Indians' twilight. 










XL 

Hugh Gibson's Captivity 

AFTER the Ijrutal massacre, by the Indians, of 
the \\'oolcom])er family, came fresh rumors 
of fresh atrocities in contemplation, conse- 
quently it was considered advisable to gather the 
women and children of the surrounding country 
within the stockade of Fort Robinson, under a strong 
guard, while the bulk of the able-bodied men went 
out in companies to reap the harvest. Some of the 
harvesters were on guard part of the time, conse- 
quently all the men of the frontier community i)er- 
formed a share of the guard duty. 

Among the most energetic of the guardsmen was 
young Hugh Gibson, son of the Widow Gibson, a 
name that has later figured prominently in the public 
eye in the person of the Secretary of the American 
Legion at Brussels, who endured a trying experience 
during the period of the over-running of the Belgian 
Paris by the hordes of blood-thirsty Huns, as rapa- 
cious and merciless as the red men of Colonial Penn- 
sylvania. 

Hugh Gibson, of Colonial Pennsylvania, was 
under twent>% slim and dark, and very anxious to 
make a good record as guardian of so many precious 
lives. As days wore on, and no Indian attacks were 
made, and no fresh atrocities committed by the 

147 



148 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

blood-loving monster, Cooties, the terror of the lower 
Juniata Valley, even the punctilious Gibson relaxed a 
trifle in the rigidity of his guardianship. 

It was near the end of the harvest when the 
majority of the men announced that they would re- 
main away over night at a large clearing on Buffalo 
Creek, as it would be dilTicult to reach the fort by 
nightfall and be back at work by daybreak the next 
morning. Hugh Gibson was made captain of the 
guard and placed in charge of the safety of the stock- 
ade full of refugees. 

All went well with Gibson and his fellow pickets 
until about midnight, when the Indians launched a 
gas attack. The wind being propitious, they built a 
fire, into which they stirred a large number of oak 
balls, and the fumes suddenly engulfing the garrison, 
all became very drowsy, with the result that the nim- 
ble redskins rushed in on the defenders, who were 
gaping about, thinking that there must be a forest 
fire somewhere, but too dazed and semi-conscious to 
think very succinctly about anything. 

When the guards saw that it was red men, and 
not red fire, they roused themselves as best they 
could, and fought bravely to save the fort and its 
inmates. By throwing firebrands into the stockade, 
the women and children, and cattle, were stampeded, 
and by a common imj^ulse burst open the gates, and 
dashed past the defenders, headed for the creek, to 
escape the threatened conflagrations. Then the In- 
dians closed in, and in the darkness, amid the crack- 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 149 

ling of the fire — for a forest fire was now in progress, 
and part of the stockade wall was blazing, amid war 
whoops and shrieks of hatred and agony, the bark- 
ing of dogs, the bellowing of cattle running amuck, 
rifle shots, the crack of tomahawks on defenseless 
skulls, the midnight air resounded with uncouth and 
horrible medley. 

The fight continued all night long, until the ap- 
proach of dawn, and the danger of the forest fire cut- 
ting them ofi^ made the Indians decamp. They did 
not stop until in the big beaver meadow at Wildcat 
Valley, they paused long enough to take stock of 
prisoners, and to count wounded and missing. They 
had captured an even dozen prisoners, and as the light 
grew stronger they noticed that they had one male 
captive, his face almost unrecognizable with soot, and 
mostly stripped of clothing, who proved to be none 
other than the zealous Hugh Gibson himself. 

It was a strange company that moved in single 
file towards the Alleghenies, eleven women and one 
man, all tied together with leather thongs, like a party 
of Alpinists, one after another, not descending a 
monarch of mountains, but descending into captivity, 
into the valley of the shadow. The Indians were 
jubilant over the personnel of their captives. In 
addition to Hugh Gibson, late captain of the guard, 
they had taken Elsbeth Henry, daughter of the 
most influential of the settlers, a girl of rare l)eauty 
and charm, who had enjoyed some educational ad- 



150 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

vantages among the Moravians at Nazareth, the 
pioneers of women's education in America. 

Gibson had for a year past, ever since he tirst 
appeared in the vicinity of Fort Robinson, admired 
the uncommonly attractive girl, and being ambitious 
in many ways, as])ired to her hand. She had never 
treated him with much consideration, except to be 
polite to him, but she was that to everyone, and could 
not be otherwise, being a happy blend of Huguenot 
and Jjohemian ancestry. 

The minute that Gibson saw that Elsbeth was 
his fellow prisoner he forgot the chagrin at being 
the sole male captive, and congratulated himself in 
secret on the good fortune that would make him, for 
a year or more, the daily companion of the object of 
his admiration. He would redeem the humiliation 
of this capture by staging a sensational double 
escape, and then, after freeing the maiden, she 
could not fail to love him and agree to become his wife. 
He was, therefore, the most cheerful of prisoners, and 
whistled and sang Irish songs as he marched along at 
the tail end of the long line of captives. 

It seemed as if tliey were being taken on a long 
journey, and he surmised that the destination was Fort 
Duquesne, to be delivered over to the French, where 
rewards would be paid for each as hostages. He 
could see by the deference paid to Elsbeth Henry 
that the redmen recognized that they had a prisoner of 
quality, and as she walked along, away ahead of him. 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 151 

whenever there was a turn in the path, he would note 
her youthful beauty and charm. 

She was not very tall, but was gracefully and 
firmlv built. Her most noticeable features were the 
intense blackness of her soft , wavy hair, and the 
whiteness of her skin, with minute blue veins showing, 
gave her complexion a blue whiteness, the color of 
mother of pearl almost, and Gibson, being a somewhat 
poetical Ulster Scot, compared her to an evening sky, 
with her red lips, like a streak of flame, across the 
mother of pearl firmament, her downcast eyes, like twin 
stars just appearing! 

The further on the part}- marched the harder it 
was going to be to successfully bring her back in safety 
to the Juniata country, through a hostile Indian terri- 
tory, for he had not the slightest doubt that he would 
outwit the clumsy-witted redmen and escape with her. 
It might be best to strike north or northwest, out of 
the seat of hostilities, and make a home for his 
bride-to-be in the wilderness along Lake Erie, and never 
take her back to her parents. But then there was his 
mother; how could he desert her? He must go back 
with Elsbeth, run all risks, once he had escaped and 
freed her from her inconsiderate captors. 

After a few days he learned that the permanent 
camp was to be on the Pucketa. in what is now West- 
moreland County. Cooties was located there, and 
since his unparalleled success in massacring whole 
families of whites, he was apparently again in favor 
with the Indian tribal chieftains. He was to take 



152 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

charge of the prisoners, and when ready, would lead 
them to Fort Duquesne, or possibly to some point 
further up La Belle Riviere, to turn them over to the 
French, who would hold them as hostages. 

It was in the late afternoon when the party filed 
into Cooties' encampment ,at the Blue Spring, near 
the headwaters of the beautiful Pucketa. Cooties 
had been apprised of their coming, and had painted 
his face for the occasion, but meanwhile had consumed 
a lot of rum. and was beastly drunk, so much so that 
in his efforts to drive the punkis off his face, which 
seemed to have a predilection for the grease paint, he 
smeared the moons and stars into an unrecognizable 
smudge all over his saturnine countenance. 

As he sat there on a huge dark buffalo robe, a 
rifle lying before him, a skull filled with smoking 
tobacco on one side, and a leather jug of rum on the 
other, smoking a long pipe, his head bobbing unsteadily 
on its short neck, he made a picture never to be for- 
gotten. The slayer of the Sheridan family was at 
best an ugly specimen of the Indian race. He was 
short, squat — Gibson described him as ''sawed off" ; 
his complexion was very dark, his lips small and thin, 
his nose was broad and flat, his eyes full and blood- 
shot, and his shaven head was covered with a red cap, 
almost like a Turk's fez. 

He was too intoxicated to indicate his pleasure, if 
he felt any. at the arrival of the prisoners. In front 
of where he sat were the embers of a campfire, as the 
weather — it was earlv in March — was still verv cold. 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 153 

He had the prisoners Hned up in front of him beyond 
the coals, while he squatted on his rug, eyeing them as 
carefully as his bleared, inebriated vision would per- 
mit. Calling to several of his henchmen, he had them 
fetch fresh wood and pile it beside the embers, as if a 
big bonfire was to be started later, 

Just as they were in the midst of bringing the 
wood, a group of six stalwart Indians rushed on the 
scene, literally dragging a rather good-looking, dark- 
haired white woman of about thirty years, whose face 
showed every signs of intense terror. From words that 
he could understand, and the grestures, Gibson made 
out that this woman had belonged to another batch of 
prisoners, but before she could be delivered at Shan- 
nopin's Town had somehow made her escape. 

To deliver a body of prisoners short one of the 
quota had brought some criticism on Cooties, and he 
was in an ugly frame of mind when she was brought 
before him. There was an ash pole near the wood 
pile, to which prisoners were tied while being inter- 
rogated, and Cooties ordered that the unfortunate 
woman should be strapped to it. The Indian war- 
riors, needless to say, made a thorough job and l)Ound 
her to it securely, hand and foot. 

Though she saw twelve or more white persons, 
the bound woman never said a word, and the captives 
from Fort Robinson and other places were too terror- 
stricken to address a word to her. They stared at her 
with that look of dumb helplessness that a flock of 
sheep assume when peering through the bars of their 



154 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

fold at a fanner in the act of butchering one of their 
number. Synipatliy they may have felt, but to ex- 
press it in words would have availed nothing. 

Once tied to the tree. Cooties ordered that the 
wood be piled about her feet. It was ranked until 
it came almost to her waist. Then the cruel warrior 
turned to his victim, saying to her in (lerman. 'Tt's 
going to ])e a cold niglil ; 1 think }()u can warm me up 
very nicely." 

Then he grinned and looked at each of his other 
prisoners menacingly. Silas Wright in his excellent 
"History of Perry County" thus quotes Hugh Gibson 
in describing the scene then enacted : "All the pris- 
oners in the neighborhood were collected to be specr 
tators of the death by torture of a poor, unhappy 
woman, a fellow-prisoner who had escaped, and been 
recaptured. They stripped her naked, tied her to a 
post and pierced her with red hot irons, the flesh 
sticking to the irons at every touch. She screamed 
in the most pitiful manner, and cried for mercy, but 
the ruthless 1)ar])arians were deaf to her agonizing 
shrieks and prayers, and continued their horrid cruelty 
until death came to her relief." 

After this fiendish episode, the Fort Robinson 
prisoners were sick at heart and in body for days, 
and most of tliem would have dropped in their tracks 
if they had been compelled to resume the long, tedious 
western journey. 

It appeared that in the foray on Fort Robinson 
one young Indian had been slain ; rumor among the 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 155 

Indians had it that he had been shot In- mistake by 
a member of his own party. At any rate his parents, 
who Hved near Cooties' camp-ground, took his end 
very hard, and the squaw, who was Cooties' sister, 
demanded the adoption of Hugh Gibson to take the 
place of her lost warrior son. This was a good point 
for Gibson, although the warrior's father, Busciueetam, 
acted very coldly towards him. and he feared he mi^lit 
some day. in a fit of revenge and hate, take his life. 
However, the young white man. by making every 
effort to help his Indian foster parents, who were very 
feeble and unable to work, won their confidence, and 
also that of Cooties, who requisitioned him to do all 
sorts of errands and work about the encampment. 

One day Busciueetam was in a terrible state of 
excitement. His spotted pony, the only equine in the 
camp, and the one that he expected to give to Cooties 
to ride with chiefly dignity through the portals of the 
Fort had strayed off in the night. 

Most of the Fort Robinson and other prisoners 
who had been l)rought in from various directions 
since their arrival, to make a great caravan of captives 
to impress the commanders at Shannopin's Town, like 
a Roman triumi)h. were allowed their liberty during 
the daytime. At night they were all tied together 
as they lay about the campfire, not far from the charred 
stump of the ash pole where the poor white woman 
had been burned to death, and where the small Indian 
dogs were constantly sniffing. There were about 
twenty-five prisoners, all told, and with these were 



156 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

tied al)out half a dozen guards, and all lay down in a 
circle about the fire, guards and prisoners slee])ing at 
the same time. It was a different system from that 
of the whites, for if a prisoner got uneasy or tried to 
get up, he or she would naturally pull on the leather 
thongs, and rouse the guardians and other prisoners. 
The thongs were around both wrists, so a prisoner was 
tied to the person on either side. 

Hugh Gibson managed to have a few words with 
Elsbeth, when he heard of the horse's disappearance. 
Much as he would like to have talked to her, few words 
passed between them during the captivity. Elsbeth 
was naturally reserved, and had never known Hugh 
well before, and he was playing for big stakes, and 
saw how the Indians resented any hobnobbing among 
their prisoners. He managed to whisper to her that 
he would volunteer to hunt for Busqueetam's missing 
pony, but would return at night and wait for her in 
the Panther Glade, a dense Rhododendron thicket 
through which they had passed on their way to the 
campground; that she should gnaw herself free with 
her teeth, and that done, with her natural agility and 
moccasined feet, could niml)ly spring away into the 
darkness and escape to him. ITe thought he knew 
where the pony was hiding, and she could ride on the 
animal to civilization. And now let Gibson tell the 
adventure in his own words : 

"At last a favorable opportunity to gain my lib- 
erty. Busqueetam lost a horse and sent me to hunt 
him. After hunting some time, I came home and told 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 157 

him I had discovered his tracks at some considerable 
distance, and that I thought I would find him; tliat I 
would take my gun and provisions and would hunt 
him for three or four days, and if I could kill a deer 
or a bear, I would pack home the meat on the horse." 

Hugh Gibson, the privileged captive, strolled out 
of camp with a business-like expression on his lean 
face, and carrying Cooties' favorite rifle. He took a 
long circle about through the deep forest, and at dark 
was ensconced in the Panther Glade, to wait the fate- 
ful moment when Elsbeth, his beloved, would come 
to him, and as his promised wife, he would lead her 
to libert)'. 

It was a cold night, and his teeth chattered as he 
squatted among the rhododendrons waiting and list- 
ening. The wolves were howling, and he wondered if 
the girl would feel afraid! 

At the usual time the various prisoners and their 
guards were lashed together, and lay down for their 
rest around the embers of the campfire. ^lost of them 
were short of coverings, so they huddled close together. 
Not so Elsbeth, for Cooties looked after her and pro- 
vided her with four bufifalo robes, which she would have 
loved dearly to share with her less favored fellow pris- 
oners, but they would not allow it. The Indians made 
the captives work hard during the da}- cutting wood, 
dressing furs and pounding corn. They did not feed 
them any too well, as game was scarce and ammunition 
scarcer, so all were tired when they lay down by the 
campfire's soothing glow. 



158 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

One by one they fell asleep, all but Elsbeth. who, 
covering her head with the l)uffalo robes, began to 
gnaw on the leather thongs as if they were that much 
caramel, first this side, then the other. She felt like 
a rodent before she was half through, and her pretty 
pearl-colored teeth grew shorter and blunter before she 
was done. It was a gigantic task, but she stuck to it 
bravely, and some time during the ''wee, sma' " hours 
had the delicious sensation of knowing she was free, 
even though she felt horridly toothless and sore-gum- 
med in her moment of victory. 

Like a wild cat she slipped out from under the 
buffalo robes, wiggled along among the wet leaves and 
moss, then crawled to her feet and was off like a 
deer towards the Panther Glade, regardless of the 
howling of the wolves. Hugh Gibson's quick sense of 
hearing told him she was coming, and he walked out 
so that he stood on the path before her. and clasped her 
white shapely arms in heartfelt congratulations. 

"Now that we are free." he said, ''I will take you 
to the pony in three hours' travel. I want to arrange 
the one final detail to make this reunion always 
memorable for us both. W'e have shared common 
hardships and perils ; we have plotted and planned 
for freedom together. Let us guarantee that our 
lives shall always be together, for I love you, and 
want you to be my wife." 

Elsbeth drew herself back out of his grasp, and 
a shudder went through her supple little frame. "Why 
I have never heard the like of what v<hi sav. much 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 159 

as I have appreciated all you have done ; ours was 
only a common misfortune. I could not care for you 
that way, even though recognizing your bravery, 
your foresight and your kindliness." 

For a moment Hugh Gibson was so angry that 
he felt like leading her back to Cooties, where she 
would probably have been received with open arms, 
and be burned at the stake, but he finally "possessed 
his soul" and accepted the inevitable. 

They found the pony by morning, but it took 
some maneuvering to capture the wily beast, and 
packed him across the Kittanning Path, where, at Bur-' 
goon's Run, they came upon a party of traders head- 
ed by George AlcCord, who had lately C(ime froiu 
the Juniata. 

AlcCord told them the details of the conflict at 
Fort Robinson, of the shocking killing of Widow- Gib- 
son, Robert Miller's daughter, James Wilson's wife. 
John Summerson, and others, on that blooily night of 
gas, forest fires, smoke and surprises. 

It was the turning point in Hugh Gibson's life; 
his mother gone, and not a sign of weakening in I{ls- 
beth Henry's mother-of-])earl countenance ; in fact, 
the indistinct line of her mouth was more like a 
streak of crimson flame than ever. A new light had 
dawned for him out of these shocking misfortunes ; 
his purpose would be to redeem his inactivity at Fort 
Robinson, his overconfidence, his over self-esteem, by 
going at once to Carlisle to secure a commission in 



160 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 



the Royal American Regiment of Riflemen. He left 
Elsbeth in charge of the AlcCord party who would 
see her back to her distracted parents, while he 
tramped over the mountains towards Reastown and 
Fort Littleton, by the shortest route to the Cumber- 
land \^alley. 



•V-x-X; 








IJII.L HKEWKK, "UK K" TKEACHKK 



XII. 



Girty's Notch 



1AHE career of Simon Girty, otherwise spelled 
Girtee and Gerdes, has become of sufificient in- 
terest to cause the only authoritative biography 
to sell at a prohibitive figure, and outlaw or renegade 
as he is called, there are postoffces, hotels, streams, 
caves and rocks which perpetuate his name through- 
out Pennsylvania. 

Simon Gerdes was born in the Cumberland \'al- 
ley on Yellow Breeches Creek, the son of a Swiss- 
German father and an Irish mother. I'his origin 
guaranteed him no high social position, for in the 
old days, in the Cumberland Valley, in particular, 
persons of those racial beginnings were never ac- 
cepted at par by the proud descendants of Quakers, 
Mrginia Cavaliers, and above all, by the Ulster Scots. 
After the w^orld war similar beginnings have corre- 
spondingly lowered in the markets of prestige, and a 
century or more of gradual family aggrandizement 
has gone for nil, the social stratification of pre-Rev- 
olutionary days having completely re-established it- 
self. 

Unfortunely for Simon Gerdes, or Girty, as he 
was generally called, he was possessed of lofty am- 
bitions, he aimed to be a military hero and a man of 
quality, like the dignified and exclusive gentry who rode 
about the valley on their long-tailed white horses and 

161 



162 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

carried swords, and were accompanied by retainers 
with long rifles. There must have l)een decent blood 
in him somewhere to have brought forth such aspira- 
tions, but personally he was never fitted to attain 
them, lie had no chance for an education off there 
in the rude foothills of the Kittochtinnies ; he was 
imdersized, swarthy and bushy headed ; his hands 
were hairy, and his face almost impossible to keep 
free of black beard. Analyzed his features were not 
unpleasant ; he had deepset. piercing black eyes, a 
prominent aquiline nose, a firm mouth and jaw, and 
his manner was quick, alert and decisive. 

Such was Simon Girtv when his martial dreams 
caused him to leave home and proceed to X'irginiai 
to enlist in the Rifle Re;^iment. A half century of 
Quaker rule in Pennsylvania had failed to disturb 
the tranquilitv of the relations between whites and 
Indians, but in the Old Dominion, there was a con- 
stant l)ickering with the redskins along the western 
frontier. 

As ("iirtv was a sure shot, he was eagerly accept- 
ed, and in a short time was raisetl to the grade of 
Corporal. Accompanied by a young Captain-lieuten- 
ant named Claypoole, he was sent to the Greenbrier 
River country to convey a supply train, but owing 
to the indifference of the ofificer. the train became 
strung out, and the vanguar 1 was cut oft' by Indians. 
and captured, and the . rearguard completely routed. 

As Girty happened to be the vidette, the Captain- 
lieutenant, who was in the rear and should have come 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 163 

up and seen that his train traveled more compactly, 
had a splendid opportunity to shift the blame. An 
investigation was held at Spottsylvania, presided over 
by a board of officers recently arrived from England, 
who knew^ nothing of border warfare, and were stick- 
lers for caste above everything else. 

Someone had to be disciplined, and if a fellow 
could be punished and a gentleman exculpated, why 
then of course, punish the fellow. This was speedily 
done, and Girty was taken out before the regiment, 
stripped of his chevrons, denounced by the Colonel, 
forced to run the gauntlet, Indian style, and drummed 
out of camp. 

Girty, though humiliated and shamed, felt glad 
that he was not shot ; he would have been had he l)een 
actuallv guilt}' of neglect; he was punishefl as ba^lly 
as an innocent man dare be punished to shield a guilty 
superior. After receiving his dishonorable discharge, 
Girty sorrowfully wended his way back to the paren- 
tal home on the Yellow Breeches, his visions of glory 
shattered. He did not tell his parents what had hap- 
pened, but they knew that something had gone wrong, 
and pitied him, as only poor, lowly people can pity 
another. 

Henry Fielding, a gentleman born and bred, has 
said: "Why is it that the only really kindly people 
are the poor," and again, "Why is it that persons in 
high places are always so hard?" 

About this time Simon Girty found work break- 
ins: colts on the estate of an eccentric character named 



164 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

Caspar, known in llic Cumberland X'allcy as "French 
Louis." who resided near the mouth of Dublin Gap, 
on the same side of the trail, but nearer the valley 
than the present Sulphur Springs Hotel. All that 
remains of his ambitious chateau is the chimney, 
which was recently Photographed by Professor J. S. 
Illick, head of the research bureau of the State De- 
partment of Forestry. 

"French Louis" Caspar was a Huguenot, a Cas- 
con, and prided himself on a resemblance to Henry 
of Navarre, and wore the same kind of fan-shaped, 
carefully brushed beard. His wife was also of French 
origin, a member of the well-known Le Tort family, 
and a woman of some education and character. They 
had several daughters, all of wiiom married well, and 
at the time of Girty's taking employment, but one was 
at home — the youngest — Eulalie. 

She was a slim, dark girl, with hair and eyes as 
black as Girty's. a perfect mate in type and disposi- 
tion. Tt is a curious thing wliilc unravelling these 
stories of old time Pennsx Ivania, that in seeking de- 
scriptions of the personal a])i)earance ( which is al- 
wa}-s the most interesting ixirl ) of the j^ersons figur- 
ing in them at an early day. scarcely any blondes are 
recorded; the black, swarthy Indian-like visages so 
noticeable to strangers traveling through Pennsylva- 
nia today, were also prevalent, commonly met with 
types of our Colonial period. 

Eulalie Gasj^ar could see that tliere was some- 
thing on C^rtv's mind, and tried to be kind to him 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 165 

and encourage him, but she asked no questions, and 
he volunteered no information. If he had not re- 
ceived such a complete social setback at Spottsylvania, 
the youth might have aspired to the girl's hand, but 
he now was keenly aware of the planes of caste, real- 
izing that he stood very low on the ladder of quality. 

He seemed to be improving in spirits under the 
warm sun of encouragement at Chateau Caspar, as 
"French Louis" liked to call his huge house of logs 
and stone, for the Huguenot adventurer was much of 
a Don Quixote, and lived largely in a world of his 
own creation. Eulalie, hot-blooded and impulsive, 
often praised his prowess as a horseman, and other- 
wise smiled on him. 

There was a great sale of Virginia bred horses 
being held in the market place at Carlisle, and, of 
course, "French Louis" mounted on a superbly com- 
parisoned, aml)ling horse, and wearing a hat with a 
plume, and attended by Simon Girty, were among 
those present. 

The animals ranged from packers and ])alfrcys 
to fancy saddlers of the high school type, and although 
Caspar had every stall full at home, and some wan- 
dering, hobbled about the old fields, he bought six 
more at fancy prices, and it would be an extensive 
task to return them safely to the stables at the "Cha- 
teau". 

It was near the close of the sale when a }oimg 
Virginian named Conrad Gist or Geist. one of the 
sellers of horses, who had been a sergeant in Girtv's 



166 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

regiment, and witnessed his degradation at Spottsyl- 
vania. came up, and in the presence of the crowd, 
taunted young Simon on being court-martialed and 
kicked out of camp. 

Girty, though tlie humiliating words were said 
among divers of his friends, bit his lips and said noth- 
ing at the time. Later in the tap room, wdien "French 
Louis" was having a final jorum before starting 
homeward, the X'irginian repeated his taunts, and 
Girty, though half his size, slapped his face. Gist 
quickly drew a horse pistol from one of the deep pock- 
ets of his long riding coat, and tried to shoot the af- 
fronted youth. Girty was too quick for him, and in 
wresting the pistol from his hand, it went off, and 
shot the N'irginian through the stomach. He fell to 
the sanded floor, and was soon dead. 

Other Virginians present raised an outcry, in which 
they were upheld by those of similar social status in the 
fraternity of "gentlemen horse dealers" residing at 
Carlisle. Threats were made to hang Girty to a tree 
and fill him full of bullets. He felt that he was lucky 
to escape in the melee, and make for the mountains. 
Public opinion was against him, and a reward placed 
on his head. Armed posses searched for him for 
weeks, eventually learning that he was being harbored 
by a band of escaped redemptioners, slaves, and gaol 
breakers, who had a cabin or shack in the wilds along 
vShirc'inan's Creek. It was vacated when the pursuers 
reached it, but thcv burnt it to the grotmd, as well as 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 167 

every other roof in the wilds that it could be proved 
he had ever slept under. 

By 1750 he became known as the most notorious 
outlaw in the Juniata country, and pursuit becoming 
too "hot", he decided to migrate west., which he did, 
allying himself with the Wyandot Indians. He lived 
with them a foe to the whites, more cruel and relent- 
less, the Colonial Records state, than his adopted 
people. 

Some of his marauding expeditions took him 
back to the Susquehanna country, and he made sev- 
eral daring visits to his parents, on one of which he 
learned to his horror and disgust, that Eulalie Gas- 
par, while staying with one of her married sisters at 
Carlisle, had met and married the now Captain Clay- 
poole, the author of his degradation, who had come 
there in connection with the mustering of Colonial 
troops. 

During these visits Girty occupied at times a 
cave facing the Susquehanna River, in the Half h'all 
Hills, directly opposite to Fort Halifax, which he 
could watch from the top of the mountain. The 
narrow, deep channel of the river, at tlie end of the 
Half Fall Hills, so long the terror of the "'up river'' 
raftsmen, became known as Girty's Notch. The sin- 
ister rc|)utati()n of the localit}- was borne out in later 
years in a resort for rivcrmen called Girty's Xotch 
Hotel, now a pleasant, homelike retreat for tired 
and thirsty autoists who draw birch beer through 
straws, and gaze at the impressive scenery of ri\er 



168 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

and mountain from the cool, breezeswept verandas. 

But the most imposing of all is the stone face 
on the mountain side, looking down on the state road 
and the river, which shows clearly the rugged out- 
lines of the features of the notorious Ixjrderer. An 
excellent photograph of "Girty's Face" can be seen 
in the collection of stereoscoptic views possessed by 
the genial "Charley Mitchell" proprietor of the Owens 
House, formerly the old Susquehanna House, at Liv- 
erpool. 

It was after General Braddock's defeat in 1755 
that Ca])tain, now Major Clay])oole, decided to settle 
on one of his parental estates on the Redstone River, 
(now Fayette County) in Western Pennsylvania. r>e- 
ing newly wedded and immense]}- wealthy for his day, 
he caused to be erected a manor house of the showy 
native red stone, elaborately stuccoed, on a bluff over- 
looking this picturesque winding river. He cleared 
much land, being aided l)y Negro slaves, and a horde 
of German redemptioners. 

When General Forbes' cam]>aign against Fort 
Duquesne was announced in 1757, he decided to again 
try for actual military laurels, though his. promotion 
in rank had been rapid for one of his desultory ser- 
vice; so he journeyed to Carlisle, and was reassign- 
ed to the Virginia Riflemen, with the rank of Lieu- 
tenant Colonel of Staff. 

He was undecided what to do with his young 
wife in his absences, but as she had become interested 
in improving "Red Clay Hall," as the new estate was 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 169 

called, he decided to leave her there, well guarded by 
his armed Virginia overseers. The Indians had been 
cleared out of the valley for several years, and were 
even looked upon as curiosities when they passed 
through the country, consequently all seemed safe on 
that score. 

However, while Lieutenant-Colonel Claypoole 
was at Carlisle, before the Forbes-Bouquet Army 
had started westward, an Indian with face blackened 
and painted, in the full regalia of a chief, appeared at 
the door of "Red Clay Hall" and asked to see the lady 
of the manor, with whom he said he was acquainted — 
that she would know him by the name of Suckaweek. 

This was considered peculiar, and he was told to 
wait outside, until "her ladyship" could be informed 
of his presence. Eulalie Caspar Claypoole, clad in a 
gown of rose brocade, was in her living room on the 
second story of the mansion, an apartment with high 
ceilings and large windows, which commanded a 
view of the Red Stone A alley, clear to its point of 
confluence Avith the lordlv Monongahela. She was 
seated at an inlaid rosewood desk, writing a letter to 
her husband, when the German chief steward entered 
to inform her of the strange visitor waiting on the 
lawn, whom she would know l)y the name of Suck- 
aweek. 

Taking the quill pen from her lips, for she had 
been trying to think of something to write, the dark 
beautv directed the steward to admit the visitor at 



170 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

once, and show him into the Hbrary. Hurrying to a 
pier glass, she adjusted her elaborate apparel, and tak- 
ing a rose from a vase, placed it carefully in her sable 
hair, before she descended the winding stairway. 

"Suckaweek" ( lUack Fish), which was a pet 
name she used to call (iirty in the old days, was wait- 
ing in the great hall, and the greeting between the ill- 
assorted pair seemed dignified, yet cordial. They 
spent the balance of the afternoon between the library 
and strolling over the grounds, admiring the exten- 
sive views, dined together in the state dining room, 
and the last the stewards and servants saw of them, 
when informed their presence would be no longer 
required, was the pair sitting in easy chairs on either 
side of the great fireplace, both smoking long pipes 
of fragrant X'irginia tobacco. 

In the morning the Indian and .Madame Clay- 
poole were missing, and an express was sent at once 
to Carlisle to acquaint the Colonel with this daring 
abduction of a lady of quality. The news came as a 
great shock to the young officer, who obtained a leave 
of absence and a platoon of riflemen to engage in the 
search for his vanished spouse. 

'i'be marriage had seemed a happy one, but in 
discussing the case with his father-in-law, "French 
Louis." indiscreetly admitted that bis daughter had 
once seemed a little sweet on v'~^inioii (jirty. llie out- 
law. All was clear now, the motive revealed. 

It was the truth, the lovely "Lady" Clay])Oole. as 
she was styled 1)\' the mountain folks, had gone off 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 171 

with the seemingly uncouth renegade, Simon Girty. 

Why she had done so, she could never tell, but 
doubtless it was a spark of love lain dormant since 
the old days at Chateau Caspar, when she had seen 
the young outlaw breaking her father's unmanage- 
able colts, that furnished the motive for the elope- 
ment. 

In the glade, where at an early hour in the morn- 
ing, Cirty and his fair companion joined his entour- 
age of Indians and white outlaws, Simon, in the pres- 
ence of all, unsheathed his formidable hunting knife, 
a relic of his first campaign against the Indians when 
he belonged to the Virginia "Long Knives," and cut 
a notch on the stock of his trusty rifle, which was 
handed to him by his favorite bodyguard, a half Jew, 
half Indian, named Alamolen, a native of Heidel- 
berg in Berks County. 

Although during the past eight years he had per- 
sonally killed and scalped over a hundred Indians 
and whites, Girty had never, as the other frontiersmen 
always did, "nicked" his rifle stock. 

Turning to Lady Claypoole with a smile, he said : 
"Some day I will tell you why I have cut this notch ; 
it is a long and curious story." 

In order to have her safe from c-apture or moles- 
tation, Girty took the woman on a lengthy and peril- 
ous journey to Kentucky, "the dark and bloody 
ground." To the country of the mysterious Green 
River, in what is now Edmonson Comity, land of 
caves, and sinks, and knobs, and sulnerranean lakes 



172 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

and streams, amid hardwood groves and limestone, 
he built a substantial log house, where he left her, 
protected only by the faithful ^^lamolen, while he re- 
turned to fight with the French and Indians along 
the banks of the Ohe-yu, "The Beautiful River." 

'J'he defeat of the allied forces by the I'.ritish, 
and the al)andonment of Fort Duquesne, were sore 
blows to Simon Girty's plans and hopes, but his po- 
sition and ])restige among the Indians remained un- 
dimmed. 

Claypoolc. though jjromoted to full Colonel, did 
not take part in any of the battles, being intermit- 
tently off on leave, hunting for his recreant wife, and 
spluttering vengeance against "that snake, that dog, 
Girty," as he alternately called liim. It seemed as if 
the earth had swallowed up the lovely object of the 
outlaw's wiles, for tliough Girty himself was heard 
of everywhere, Ijcing linked with the most hideous 
atrocities an*' aml)usbes, no Indian prisoner, even 
under the most dreadful torture, could reveal the 
Lady Claypoole's whereabouts. The reason tor that 
was onl\- two persons in the service knew, one was 
Mamolen, the other Girty, and ]\Iamolen remained 
behind with the fair runaway. 

It was not until after the fmal collapse of the 
French power in GUI. and the western coimtry was 
becoming opened for settlement, that Colonel Clay- 
poole received an inkling of ludalie's whereabouts. 
It did not excite his curiosity to see her again, or 
bring her back, but merely fired his determination the 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 173 

more to even his score with Girty. When he was 
sober and in the sedate atmosphere of his correctly 
appointed Hbrary on Grant's Hill, in the new town of 
Pittsburg, he realized how foolish it would be to 
to journey to the wilds to kill "a scum of the earth," 
he a gentleman of many generations of refined an- 
cestry, all for a "skirt" as he contemptuously alluded 
to his wife. 

But when in his cups, and that was often, he 
vowed vengeance against the despoiler of his home, 
and the things he planned to do when once he had 
him in his clutches would have won the grand prize 
at a Spanish Inquisition. 

If it was Girty 's destiny to notch his riHe once, 
Nemesis provided that Colonel Claypoole sliould al- 
so have that rare privilege. At a military muster on 
the Kentucky side of Big Sandy, during the Revolu- 
tionary War, Simon Girty boldly ventured to the out- 
skirts of the encampment, to spy on the strength and 
armament of the patriot forces, as he had done a 
hundred times before. Colonel Claypoole, riding on 
the field on his showy, jet black charger, noticed a 
low-browed face, wdiiskered like a Bolshevik, peer- 
ing out through a clump of Inishes. Recognizing him 
after a lapse of over a quarter of a century, he rode 
at him rashly, parrying with the flat blade of his 
sabre, the well directed bullet which Girty sent at 
him. Springing from his mount, which he turned 
loose, and which ran snorting over the field, with 
pistol in one hand, sabre in the other, he rushed into 



174 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

the thicket, and engaged his foe in deadly combat. 
He was soon on top of the surprised Girty. and 
stamping on him, Hke most persons do with a veno- 
mous snake, at the same time shooting and stabbing him. 

When his frightened orderly, leading the recap- 
tured charger, rode up. followed l)y a numl)cr of ex- 
cited officers and men, and drew near to the thicket, 
they were just in time to see Colonel Claypoole emerg- 
ing from it, red-faced but calm, carrying a long rifle. 

"T see you ha\'e i)Ut a notch in it already," said 
one of his companions, as he eagerly wrung his hand. 

"So I perceive," replied the Colonel, "but it was 
hardly necessary, for I have onl\- killed a snake." 

There are some who say that Colonel Claypoole's 
victim was not Simon Girty at all, but merely a 
drunken settler who was coiuing out of the bushes 
after a mid-day nap, and a coincidence that the fel- 
low was armed with a rifle on which there was a 
single nick. Yet for all intents and purposes Colonel 
Claypoole had killed a good enough Simon C^iirty, and 
had his rifle to prove it. 

Other reports have it that Simon Ciirty surviv- 
ed the Revolution, where he played such a reprehen- 
sive part, to marry Catharine Malott. a former cap- 
tive among the Indians, in 1TS4, and was killed in the 
Battle of the Thames, in the War of IST^. 

C. W. Butterworth in his biography of the Girty 
family, says that Simon, in later life, became totally 
blind, dying near Amlerstburg. Canada, February 18. 
1818, was buried on his farm, and a troop of British 
soldiers from Fort Maiden fired a volley at his grave.. 



XIII. 

Poplar George 

^^TT have been reading your legends of the old days 
I in the 'North American, " said the delegate to 
-*- the Grange Convention, stroking his long silky 
mustache, "and they remind me of many stories that 
my mother used to tell me when I was a little shaver, 
while we were living on the Pucketa, in Westmore- 
land County. There was one story that I used to like 
best of all. It was not the one about old Pucketa 
the Indian warrior for whom the run was named, but 
about a less notable Indian, but more esteemed local- 
ly, known as 'Poplar George.' 

"It isn't nearly as interesting an Indian story as 
the one that Emerson Collins tells, of the time when 
his mother, as a little girl on the Quinneshockeny, went 
to the spring for a jug of water, finding a lone In- 
dian sitting there all by himself, looking as if he was 
in deep thought. As he made no move to molest her, 
she filled her jug, and then scampered hack to the 
house as fast as she could lote the jug there. 

"She was a little shy about telling of her strange 
experience, but finally, when she mentioned the sub- 
ject, her mother said, 'maybe the poor fellow was 
hungry.' Quickly spreading a 'piece,' she hurried 
back to the spring, but no Indian was to be found, 
only a few prints of his mocassined feet in the soft 
earth by the water course. If it hadn't been for those 

175 



176 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

footprints she would have always felt that she had 
not seen a real live Indian, but a ghost. 

"It was the last Indian ever heard of on the 
Quinneshockeny, and he had probably come back to 
revive old memories of i.is happy childhood. No, 
Poplar George was hardl)- like Emerson Collins' 'last 
Indian,' as he, my mother averred, was part Indian, 
part ghost. He was also the last Indian that ever 
visited the I~'ucketa, which Iiad been a famous stream 
in its day for redmen, from the time when old Puck- 
eta, himself, came there to spend his last days, after 
having been driven out from his former hunting 
grounds at the head of Lost Creek, which runs into 
the 'Illue Juniata" above AlifHintown. 

"The principal part of this story revolves around 
two large trees that used to stand near the Pucketa, 
one a big tulip or 'whitewood' tree, hollow at the Initt, 
so much so that a half grown person could hide in it, 
and a huge water poplar tree, or 'cotton wood,' a rare 
tree in Pennsylvania, you know, that stood on lower 
ground directly in line wath it, but on the far side of 
the creek, which ran parallel with the road. It wasn't 
mucli of a road in those days, I'm told, isn't much of 
one yet, little better than a cow path, with grass and 
dandelions growing between the wagon tracks, and a 
worn foot-path on the creek side of it. Many's the 
time I've gone along that path to and from school, or 
to fetch the cows. 

"In my boyhood there were two big stumps which 
always arrested my attention, the stumps of the 'cot- 




A<iEI) FLAX-SI'INNER AT WORK. SUGAR VALLKY 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 177 

tonwood' and the tulip which I have already men- 
tioned. The native poplar stump, which was chopped 
breast high for some reason, had been cut before my 
day, but the tulip tree had stood a dead stab for many 
years, and was not finally cut until my babyhood. I 
was too young to recall it, and its stump had been 
sawed off almost level with the ground. 

"When my mother was old enough to notice 
things, say along six, or seven or eight years of age, 
both trees was standing, and despite their venerable 
age, were thrifty and green; the hollow trunk of the 
tulip did not seem to lessen its vitality. Trees in 
those days, of all kinds, were pretty common, and re- 
garded as nuisances ; the farmers were still having 
'burning bees' in the spring and fall when all hands 
would join in and drag with ox-spans the logs of the 
trees that had been cut when they were clearing new 
grouiid, and making huge bonfires, l)urn them like a 
modern section foreman does a pile of old railroad 
ties, and by the way, the time is going to come soon 
when tie burners will be as severely condemned as 
the instigators of the 'burning bees' in the olden days. 

"Trees were too plentiful to attract much atten- 
tion or create aft"ection or veneration, but these two 
trees had a very special human interest. 

"Long after the Indians passed out of our coun 
try they came back as ghosts or 'familiars,' just as 
the wolves, panthers and wild pigeons do, so that the 
stories of folks seeing them after they became extinct, 
while not literallv true, are in a sense correct,. Close- 



178 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

ly associated with the hfe of the hig cottonwood was 
an old Indian, mother said; he wasn't a real live In- 
dian, yet not a ghost, was probably a half ghost, lialf 
Indian, if there could be any such thing. 

"The tulip tree was inhal)ited by a \ery attractive 
spirit, an Indian girl, an odd looking one too. for her 
smooth skin was only a pumpkin color and her eyes 
a light blue. They all called her 'Pale Eyes.' and 
she was described as sliglit, winsome and wonder- 
fully pretty. The Indian man. because he spent so 
much time under the cottonwood or water poplar, be- 
came generally known as 'Poplar George.' He would 
appear in the neighborhood early in the spring, in 
time to gather ])oke. milkweed, dandelion and bracken 
for the farmer's wives, and to teach the young folks 
to fish, to use the bow and arrow, and snare wild 
pigeons and doves. 

"It was a sure sign of spring when the young 
people would see him squatting before a very small 
fire of twigs under the still leafless branches of the 
ancient poplar tree. Jle would remain about all sum- 
mer long, helping with the harvest, so he must have 
been real flesh and blood, in a sense, and in the fall he 
gathered nuts, and later cut some cordwood for those 
who favored him — but in truth he never liked hard, 
downright work overly much. 

"He was a creature of the forests and .streams. 
\\'hen he went away in the fall, after the wild jjigeons 
had left, he always said that he wintered south, on 
the Casselman River, where the weather was not so 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 179 

severe, in that wonderful realm of the Pawpaw, the 
Persimmon and the Red Bud. 

"Often when he took the young folks of the 
neighborhood on fishing trips, and his skill with the 
angle and fly were unerring, the pretty Indian maiden, 
'Pale Eyes,' would turn up, and be with the party all 
day. When asked who she was. he would srtmetmies 
say that she was his daughter, other times his neice, or 
grand-daughter, but when anyone asked of 'Pale 
Eyes,' she would shake her pretty head, indicating 
that she only spoke the Indian language,. Poplar 
George could speak Dutch and a little English. 

"No one knew where Poplar George slept, if it 
wasn't in the open, under the cottonwood tree. If 
he slept in barns, or under haystacks, no one had ever 
seen him coming or going, but a detail like that, mat- 
tered nothing as long as he was kindly and harmless, 
and took good care of the children. 

"He was a master of woodcraft, much like that 
old Narragansett Indian 'Nessmuk,' who furnished 
the late George W. Sears with his inspiration as well 
as 'nom de plume.' Poplar George could call the wild 
birds off the trees, so that they would feed on the 
ground before him, the squirrels and even the shy 
chipmunks climbed all over him. and extracted nuts 
from his pockets. 

"The old Indian was an odd person to look at. so 
my mother said; of medium height, meagre, wrinkled 
and weazened, tobacco colored, with little black shoe- 
button eyes, and a sparse mustache and beard. He 



180 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

dressed in rags, and was often bare-footed, yet he 
never complained of the cold. He was always jolly 
and cheerful, had always been the same ; he had been 
coming to the Puckcta Valley for several generations 
before my mother's day ; in fact, no one could remem- 
ber when he hadn't been there, but that wasn't saying 
much, as it was a new country, dating only from the 
time when Pucketa and his tril)esmen had enjoyed it 
as a hunting ground for l)ig game. 

"Once when .some hunters killed a bear, they were 
going to nail the paws on the end of a log barn, but 
Poplar George begged for them, and invited the chil- 
dren to a feast of 'bear paw cutlets' under the Cot- 
tonwood tree. My mother sat beside 'Pale Eyes,' 
and took a great fancy to her ; she was able to talk 
with her in sign language, and Poplar George, seeing 
how well they got on together, occasionally interpreted 
for them. 

"Mother managed to learn that 'Pale Eyes' ' 
abode was in a huge hollow tulip tree, but that she, 
too, wintered in the south, but beyond the ALiryland 
line. Those were all gloriously care-free, happy days, 
and my mother, in later life, never tired talking about 
them. 

"Once in the fall when the buckwheat harvest 
was in progress, millions of wild pigeons came in. and 
mother could never forget the sight of old I'oplar 
George sitting on a 'stake and rider' fence, with a 
handsome cock pigeon resplendent with its ruddy 
breast, pearched on one of his wrists, while it pecked 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 181 

at some buckwheat seeds in his other hand. Beside 
him sat the demure 'Pale Eyes,' a speckled squab of 
the year in her lap, stroking it, while other pigeons, 
usually so wild, were feeding in the stubble about 
them, or perched on the stakes of the fence. 

"Some of the boys of sixteen years or therea- 
bouts, grown lads they seemed to my mother, wanted 
to be attentive to 'Pale Eyes,' but she was so shy that 
she never let them get close to her. As it was a re- 
spectable backwoods community, and all minded their 
own business, no further efiforts were made to have 
her mingle in society. 

"There was a rich boy, Herl^ert Hiltzheimer from 
Philadelphia, whose father was a great land owner, 
and who sometimes came with his parents to stay with 
their Agent while inspecting their possessions, who, 
at first sight of 'Pale Eyes,' fell violently in love with 
her. On rainy days he was not allowed out of doors, 
and sent word to Poplar George that 'Pale Eyes' 
should go to the Agent's house, and play with him. 
Old Poplar George replied that he was willing if his 
niece would consent, but she always ran away into the 
depths of the forest, and was never once induced to 
play with him indoors. She did not dislike the city 
boy, only was very timid, and was afraid to go inside 
of a house. 

"My mother was made a confidante of by Her- 
bert ( who ofi'ered her five dollars, a collosal sum in 
those days, if she would induce 'Pale Eyes' to at least 
come into the Agent's yard, and play with him alone. 



182 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

He had her name cut on everything, even on the win- 
dow frames, and wrote verses ahout her which he 
carried in liis pocket, and sometimes tried to read to 
her. 

"In the fall he was taken back lu i'hiladelphia to 
school, hut said that, the evening before, when he 
walked up the lane, weeping over his misfortune, he 
opportunately met the fair Indian maid alone at the 
tulip tree, and actually kissed her. She broke away 
and ran into the hollow trunk, and while he quickly 
followed her into the aperture, she had disappeared. 

"The lands on which the cottonwood and the tu- 
lip tree stood were a part of a farm belonging to 
'S(|uire George Garnice, an agreeable, but easy going 
old gentleman, who never learned to say 'no' to any 
one, though not much to his detriment for he was 
very generally respected. 

"( )iie fall some of the Fiedler boys suggested to 
him, tliat he let them go on his property and cut up a 
lot of old half-dead good-for-nothing trees for cord- 
wood and of course he assented. The first tree they 
attacked was Poplar George's favorite, the mighty cot- 
tonwood. They were skilled axemen, and cut a level 
stump but too high for these days of conservation 
Soon the big poplar was down, and the boys were 
trimming off the sweeping branches. Before cutting 
into stove lengths, they hopped across the creek and 
started on their next victim, the hollow tulij) tree, the 
home of 'Pale Eyes.' 

"One of the boys, the youngest, Ed., had gotten 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 183 

a new cross-cut saw, and begged them to try it on 
the tuhp. They notched, and then getting down on 
their knees, started to saw a low stump, for some rea- 
son or other. They had sawed in quite a distance on 
both edges of the hollow side when they heard a pit- 
eous shrieking and wailing down the road, toward 
the old "Squire's barn. 

"Leaving saw, axes and wedges, they ran to 
where the cries came from, and to their horror, found 
'Pale Eyes' lying on the grassy bank beside the road 
at the orchard, her ankles terribly lacerated, front and 
back, clear in to the bones, and bleeding profusely. 
On this occasion she was able to speak in an intelligi- 
ble tongue. 

" 'Run quick to the 'Squire's, and get help,' she 
said, in Pennsylvania German ; 'I am dying, but I 
want something to ease this dreadful pain.' 

"The sympathetic boys, without waiting to in- 
quire where she received her grevious hurts, scurried 
down the road and through the 'Squire's gate. The 
old gentleman was in his library, drawing up a legal 
document, when the long, lanky youths, hatless and 
breathless, burst in on him. 

" 'Oh, sir,' they chorused, 'the Indian girl. 'Pale 
Eyes,' you know, has cut herself, and is dying up the 
road, and wants help,.' 

"The 'Squire always kept an old-fashioned rem- 
edy chest in his desk, so seizing it, and adjusting his 
curly wig, so that it would not blow off. he ran out 
after the niml)lc mountaineers. .As thev left the gate 



184 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

they saw old Poplar George running across the or- 
chard in the direction of the wounded girl. Evident- 
ly he, too, had heard her cries. 

"When they reached the spot where marks on 
the greensward showed where 'Pale Eyes' had heen 
lying, she was nowhere to be found, neither was 
Poplar George. There were no signs of blood, only 
a lot of sawdust like comes from the workings of a 
cross-cut saw. 

"The old 'Squire was nonplussed. l)ut consented 
to accompany the boys to the scene of their wood 
cutting operations. 'Pale Eyes' was not there either, 
nor Poplar George. The newly formed leaves of the 
Cottonwood — it was in the month of May — although 
the tree had only been cut and sawed into but an 
hour before, were scorched and withered. 

"The 'Squire showed by his face how heart- 
broken he was to see the two picturesque trees so 
roughly treated, but he was too kindly and forgiving 
to chide the boys for their sake. As he was standing 
there, looking at the ruin, a number of school chil- 
dren, among them my mother, came along, for it was 
during the noon recess, or dinner hour. They saw 
the butchered trees, and learned of the events of the 
morning; several of them, prosaic backwoods young- 
sters, though they were, shed bitter tears. 

" 'Dry your eyes.' the 'Squire urged them, 'else 
your people will think that the teacher licked you.' 
Then they all chorused that it was a shame to have 
ruined the retreats of Poplar George and 'Pale Eyes.' 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 185 

"Evidently 'Squire Garnice was wise in the lore 
of mysticism, for he shook his head sadly, saying, 
'Never mind, you'll never see Poplar George nor 'Pale 
Eyes' again.' 

"It was a dejected company that parted with 
him at his gate. The old 'Squire was right, for never 
more was anything seen or heard of Poplar George 
and the mysterious 'Pale Eyes.' They must have 
been in some unknowable way connected with the 
lives of those two trees, the cottonwood and the tulip 
— their lives or spirits mayl^e, and when they were 
cut into, their spirits went out with them. 

"I knew of a wealthy man who had a cedar tree 
in his yard, that when he fell ill, the tree became 
brown, but retained a little life. Finally it was cut 
down as an eyesore, and the gentleman died suddenly 
a few days afterward. That tree must have contained 
a vital part of his spirit. 

"By fall the tulip tree looked as if it had been 
dead for years, and the bark was peeling off. As the 
wood of the poplar would not burn, and set up a fetid 
odor, the Fieldler boys never bothered to finish cut- 
ting down the hollow tulip tree, of which the shy 
wood sprite, 'Pale Eyes,' had been the essence. 

"Much of the mystery and charm of that old 
grass-grown way along the gently flowing Pucketa 
had vanished with its Indian frequenters. lUit the 
memory of Poplar George and 'Pale Eyes' will never 
l)e forgotten as long as any of those children who were 
lucky enough to know them, remain in this world." 



XIV. 

Black Alice Dunbar 

DOWN in the wilds of the Fourth Gap, latterly 
used as an artery of travel between Sugar 
\'alley and White Deer Hole X'alley, com- 
monly known as "White Deer Valley," a forest ran- 
ger's cabin stands on the site of an ancient Indian 
encampment, the only clearing in the now dreary 
drive from the "Dutch End" to the famous Stone 
Church. Until a dozen years ago much of the prime- 
val forest remained, clumps of huge, original white 
pines stood here and there, in the hollows were hem- 
lock and rhododendron jungles, while in the fall the 
flickers chased one another among the gorgeous red 
foliage of the gum trees. 

Now much is changed ; between "Tom" Harter 
and "Charley" Steele, and other lumbermen, includ- 
ing some gum tree contractors, jiiile remains but 
l)rush and slash ; forest hres have sacrificed the re- 
maining timl)er, and only among the rocks, near the 
mouth of the gap, can be seen a few original yellow 
pines, shaggy topped in isolated grandeur. Some day 
the tragic Indian history of White Deer Hole \'al- 
ley will come to its own. and present one of the most 
tragic pages in the narrative of the passing of the 
red man. 

It was into this isolated valley, that terminates 

186 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 187 

in Black Hole Valley, and the Susquehanna River, 
near Montgomery, that numbers of the Monsey Tribe 
of the Lenni-Lenape, called by some the Delaware 
Indians, retreated after events subsequent to the 
Walking Purchase, made them outcasts on the face 
of the earth. It was not long afterwards that warlike 
parties of their cruel Nemesis, the Senecas, appeared 
on the scene, informing the IMonseys that they had 
sold the country to the whites, and if they stayed, it 
was at their peril. 

Even at that early day white men were not whol- 
ly absent ; they came in great numbers after the Sen- 
ecas had sold the lands of the Lenni-Lenape to the 
"Wunnux," but even coincident with the arrival of 
the Delawares. a few white traders and adventurers 
inhabited the most inaccessible valleys. 

Alexander Dunbar, a Scotchman, married to a 
Monsey woman, arrived in White Deer Hole Valley 
with the first contingent of his wife's tribes-people, 
settling near the confluence of White Deer Hole Creek 
and South Creek. Whether he was any relation to 
the Dunbar family, who have long been so prominent 
in this valley is unknown, as his family moved fur- 
ther west, and the last heard of them was when his 
widow died and was buried in the vicinity of Dark 
Shade Creek, Somerset County. 

Dunl)ar was a dark, swarthy complexioned man, 
more like an Indian than a Celt, and dressed in the 
tribal garb, could easily have passed oiY as one of the 
aboriginies. At one time he evidently intended to re- 



188 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

main in the Fourth (lap. as in the centre of the green- 
sword which contained the Inchan encampment, he 
erected a log fortress, with four l)astions. the most per- 
manent looking structure west of Fort Augusta. In it 
he aimed to live like a Scottish Laird, with his great 
hall, the earthen floor, covered with the skins of pan- 
thers, wolves and bears, elk and deer antlers hanging 
about, and a huge, open fireplace that burned logs of 
colossal size, and would have delighted an outlaw 
like Rob Roy MacGregor. 

When the Seneca Indians penetrated into the val- 
ley they were at a loss at first to ascertain Alexan- 
der Dunbar's true status. If he was related to the 
prominent Scotch families identified with the Penn 
Government, he would be let alone, but if a mere 
friendless adventurer, he would be driven out the 
same as any one of the "Original People." 

Dunbar was a silent man. and by his taciturnity 
won toleration for a time, as he never revealed his 
true position. When the Senecas became reasonably 
convinced that, no matter who he had been in the 
Highlands of Scotland, he was a person of no im- 
portance in the mountains of Pennsylvania, they be- 
gan a series of i)rosecutions that finally ended with 
his murder. This took its first form by capturing all 
members of the Lenni-Lenape tribe who ventured 
into the lower end of the valley, for those who had 
settled further down, and on the banks of the Sus- 
quehanna and Mousey Creek had moved westward 
when thev learned tliat thcv had been "sold out." 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 189 

However, the residents of Dunbar's encampment oc- 
casionally ventured down South Creek on hunting 
and fishing expeditions. When the heads of half a 
dozen families, and several squaws, young girls and 
children had been captured, over a dozen in all, and 
put into a stockade near the present village of Spring 
Garden, and rumor had it that they were being ill- 
treated, Alexander Dunbar, carrying a flag of truce, 
set off to treat with the Seneca Council, at what is 
now Allenwood, with a view to having them paroled. 

The unfortunate man never reached the Senecas' 
headquarters, being shot from ambush, and left to 
die like a dog on the trail, not far from the Panther 
Spring, above the present John E. Person residence. 

While the surviving, able bodied Monseys could 
have risen and started a warfare, they deemed it pru- 
dence to remain where they were, and to make Su- 
gar Valley, and the valleys adjacent to White Deer 
Creek, their principal hunting grounds. 

While Dunbar had lived, squaw man, though he 
was, he was the leader of the Indians among whom 
he resided, else they would never have permitted his 
erecting a pretentious fortress in the midst of their 
humble tepees of hides and poorly constructed log 
cabins. At his death the leadership devolved on his 
eighteen-year-old daughter, "Black Agnes," his wid- 
ow being a poor, inoffensive creature, a typical In- 
dian drudge. 

"Black Agnes" was even darker complexioned 
than her father, but was better looking, havmg fine, 



190 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

clear cut features, expressive dark eyes which flashed 
fire, although she was much jjelow medium height, in 
fact, no bigger than a twelve-year-old child. She 
wore her hair in such a tangled way that her eyes, 
lean cheeks and white throat were half hidden by the 
masses of her sable tresses. She usually attired her- 
self in a blue coat and cape, a short tan skirt trimmed 
with grey squirrel tails, and long Indian stockings. 
She was in miniature a counterpart of Miriam Dons- 
debes, the ])eautiful heroine of one of the chapters in 
this writer's book "South Mountain Sketches." 

While it may have given the Senecas added cause 
to repeat their jibe of "old women" at the Lenni-Le- 
napes, for not avenging Dun])ar's death, it was a case 
of living on suiTerance anyway, and foolish to have 
attacked superior numbers. The Senecas always had 
white allies to call on for arms and ammunition, while 
from the first, the Delawares were a proscribed peo- 
ple, slated to be run off the earth and exterminated. 
During this lull, following the Scotchman's mur- 
der, which the Senecas would have doubtless have dis- 
avowed, an embassy appeared at the Dunbar strong- 
hold to ask "Black Agnes' '' hand in marriage with a 
young Seneca warrior named Shingaegundin, whom 
the intrepid young girl had never seen. While it 
would have been extremely politic for "Black Agnes" 
to have accepted, and allied herself with the powerful 
tribe that had wronged her people,, she sent back 
word firmly declining. 

After the emissaries departed through the gate of 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 191 

the stockade, she turned to her warriors, saying, in the 
metaphorical language of her race : "The sky is over- 
cast with dark, blustering clouds," which means that 
troublesome times were coming, that they would have 
war. 

The embassy returned crestfallen to Shingaegundin, 
who was angry enough to have slain them all. In- 
stead, he rallied his braves, and told them that if he 
could not have "Black x'\gnes" willingly, he would take 
take her by force, and if she would not be a happy and 
complaisant bride, he would tie her to a tree and starve 
her until she ceased to be recalcitrant. 

The bulk of the Monseys having departed from the 
valleys on both sides of the Susquehanna, to join others 
of their tribe at the headwaters of the Ohe-yu. left the 
Dunbar clan in the midst of an enemy's country, so that 
it would look like an easy victory for Shingaegundin's 
punitive expedition. 

"Black Agnes" had that splendid military quality of 
knowing ahead of time what her adversaries planned 
to do — whether "second sight" from her Scotch lilood, 
or merely a highly developed sense of strategy, matters 
not. At any rate, she was ready to deal a blow at her 
unkind enemies. Therefore she posted her best marks- 
men along the rocky face of the South Mountains, on 
either side of Fourth Gap. Behind these grey-yellow, 
pulpit-shaped rocks, the tribesmen crouched, ready for 
the oncoming Senecas. "Black Agnes" herself was in 
personal command inside the stockade, where she was 
surrounded by a courageous bodyguard twice her size. 



192 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

The women, old men and children, were sent to the top 
of the mountain, to about where Zimmerman's Run 
heads at the now famous Zimmerman Mountain-top 
Hospice. At a signal, consisting of a shot fired in the 
air by "Black Agnes" herself, the fusillade from the 
riflemen concealed among the rocks was to begin, to 
make the Fourth Gap a prototype of Killiecrankie. 

In turn the entrance of the Senecas into the defile 
was to be announced by arrow shot into the air by a 
Monsey scout who was concealed behind the Raven'? 
Rock, the most extensive point of vantage overlooking 
the "Gap." 

When "Black Agnes" saw the graceful arrow speed 
up into space, she again spoke metaphorically, "The 
path is already shut up !" which meant that hostilities 
had commenced, the war begun. 

The little war sprite timed her plot to a nicety. When 
the Senecas were well up in the pass, and surrounded 
on all sides by the IMonseys, whom they imagined all 
crowded into the stockade, "Black Agnes" fired her 
shot, ruid the slaughter began. The Senecas began 
falling on all sides, thanks to the unerring aim of the 
IMonsey riflemen, but they were too inured to warfare 
to break and run, especially when caught in a trap. 

Shingaegundin, enraged beyond all expression at 
again being flouted by a woman, and a member of the 
tribe of "old women," determined to die gamely, and 
within the stockade which harbored "Black Agnes." 
He seemed to bear a charmed life, for while his 
cohorts fell about him, he plunged on unhurt. The 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 193 

gate of the stockade was open, and "Black Agnes" 
stood just within it, directing her warriors, a quaint 
but captivating little figure, more like a sprite or fairy 
than one of flesh and blood. 

Shingaegundin espied her, and knew at a glance that 
this must be the woman who the wise men of his tribe 
had selected to be his bride, and the cause of this sense- 
less battle. His was a case of love at first sight, the 
very drollness of her tiny form adding to his passion, 
and he ran forward, determined to be killed holding her 
in his arms and pressing kisses on her dusky cheeks. 

Such thoughts enhanced his ambition and courage, 
and he shouted again and again to his braves to pick 
themselves up and come on as he was doing. Dazed 
with love, he imagined in a blissful moment that he 
would yet have the victory and carry "Black Agnes" 
home under his arm like a naughty child. 

Just outside the palisade he was met by three of 
Agnes' bodyguard, armed with stone hatchets. None 
of his warriors were near him ; shot and bleeding, they 
were writhing on the grass, while some were already in 
the hands of the Mousey braves, who had come down 
from their eyries, and were dexterously plying the 
scalping knives. Few of the mutilated Senecas uttered 
cries, although as the scalps were jerked off, it was 
hard to suppress involuntary sobs of pain. 

"Black Agnes" saw nothing in the long, lank form 
of Shingaegundin to awaken any love ; she detested 
him as belonging to the race that had sold her birth- 
right and foully murdered her father, and she called 



194 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

to her warriors: "Suffer no grass to grow on the war- 
path." signifying to carry on the fight with vigor. 

Shingaegundin was soon down, his skull battered 
and cracked in a dozen places. Even when down, hii 
ugly spirit failed to capitulate. Biting and scratching 
and clawing with his nails like a beast, he had to have 
his skull beaten like a copperhead before he stretched 
out a lifeless, misshapen corpse. As he gave his last 
convulsive kick the Alonsey warriors began streaming 
through the gates, some holding aloft scalps dripping 
with blood, while others waved about by the scalp locks, 
the severed heads of their defeated foemen. 

Never had such a rout been inflicted on the Senecas ; 
perhaps "Black Agnes" would be a second Jeanne 
d'Arc. and lead the Lenni-Lenape back to their former 
glories and possessions ! 

The victorious Monseys became very hilarious, hoist- 
ing the scalps on poles, they shimmied around "Black 
Agnes." yelling and singing their ancient war songs, 
the proudest moment of their bellicose lives. 

"Black Agnes" was calm in triumph, for she knew 
how transitory is life or fame. Biting her thin iips, 
she drew her scalping knife and bent down over the 
lifeless form of Shingaegundin. to remove his scalp in 
as business-like a manner ^s if she was skinning a 
rabbit. Addressing the grinning corpse, she said : 
"Bury it deep in the earth," meaning that the Seneca's 
injury would be consigned to oblivion. Then, with rare 
dexiteritv. she removed the scalp, a difficult task when 
the skull has been broken in, in so many places. 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 195 

Holding aloft the ugly hirsute trophy, she almost 
allowed herself to smile in her supreme moment of suc- 
cess. Her career was now made ; she would rally the 
widely scattered remnants of the Dela wares, and fight 
her way to some part of Pennsylvania where prestige 
would insure peace and uninterrupted happiness. But 
in these elevated moments comes the bolt from the blue. 

One of the panic-stricken Senecas, bolting from the 
ignominious ambush of his fellows, had scrambled up 
the boulder-strewn side of the mountain, taking refuge 
behind the Raven's Rock, lately occupied by the chief 
lookout of the Monseys — he who had shot the warning 
arrow into the air. Crouching abject and trembling 
at first, he began to peer about him as the fusillade 
ceased and smoke of battle cleared. He saw his slain 
and scalped clansmen lying about the greensward, and 
in the creek, and the awful ignominy meted out to his 
lion-heared sachem, Shingaegundin. At his feet lay 
the bow and quiver full of arrows abandoned by the 
scout when he rushed down pell mell to join in the 
bloody scalping bee. 

The sight of "Black Agnes" holding aloft his chief- 
tain's scalp, the horribly mutilated condition of Shin- 
gaegundin's corpse, the shimmying, singing Monseys, 
waving scalps and severed heads of his brothers and 
friends, all drew back to his heart what red blood ran 
in his veins. 

"Black Agnes" stood there so erect and self-confi- 
dent, like a little robin red-breast, ready for a potpie, 
he would lay her low and end her pretensions. Taking 



196 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

careful aim, for he was a noted archer, the Seneca let 
go the arrow, which sped with the swiftness of a pas- 
senger pigeon, finding a place in the heart of the hrave 
girl. The tip came out near her l)ackbone, her slender 
form was pierced through and through. The slight 
flush on her dark cheeks gave way to a deadly pallor, 
and, facing her unseen slayer, "Black Agnes" Dunbar 
tumbled to the earth dead. 

The dancing, singing Alonseys suddenly became a 
lodge of sorrow, weeping and wailing as if their hearts 
would break. The Seneca archer could have killed 
more of them, they were so bewildered, but he decided 
to run no further risks, and made off towards his en- 
campment to tell his news, good and bad, to his as- 
tounded tril)esmen. 

When it was seen that "Black Agnes" was no more, 
and could not be revived, the sorrowful Monseys dug 
a grave within the stockade. It was a double death for 
them, as they knew that they would be hunted to the 
end like the IV off Tribe that they were, and they had 
lost an intrepid and l)eloved leader. 

According to the custom, before the interment, 
"Black Agnes' " clothing was removed, the l)ravcs de- 
ciding to take it as a present to the dead girl's mother, 
to show how bravely she died. They walled up the 
grave and covered the corpse with rocks so that wolves 
could not dig it up, graded a nice mound of sod over 
the top, and, like the white soldiers at Fort Augusta, 
fired a volley over her grave. 

That night there was a sorrowing scene enacted at 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 197 

the campground near the big spring at Zimmerman's 
Run. The grief -stricken mother wanted to run away 
into the forest, to let the wild beasts devour her, and 
was restrained with great difficulty by her tribesmen, 
who had also lost all in life that was worth caring for, 
peace and security. 

With heavy hearts they started on a long journey 
for the west, carrying the heart-broken mother 
Karendonah in a hammock, to the asylum offered to 
them by the Wyandots on the Muskingum. The be- 
reaved woman carried the lilood-stained, heart-pierced 
raiment of her heroic daughter as a priceless relic, 
and it was in her arms when she died suddenly on the 
way, in Somerset County, and was buried beside the 
trail, on the old Forbes Road. The Alonseys, however, 
took the costume witli them as a fetich, and for years 
missionaries and others interested in the tragic story of 
"Black Agnes" Dunbar were shown her blue jacket 
w^ith the hole in the breast where the arrow entered. 

That arrow pierced the hearts of all the Monseys, 
for they became a dejected and beaten people in their 
Ohio sanctuary. 

While it is true that most of the very old people who 
lived in the vicinity of the Fourth Gap have passed 
away, it may yet be possible to learn the exact location 
of the cairn containing the remains of "Black Agnes" 
and place a suitable marker over it. One thing seems 
certain, if the tradition of the Lenni-Lenape that per- 
sons dying bravely in battle reach a higher spiritual 



198 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 



plane once their souls are released, her ghost will not 
have to hunt the hideous, burnt-over slashings that 
were once the wildly romantic Fourth Gap ; it has gone 
to a realm beyond the destructive commercialism of 
this dollar-mad age, where beauty finds a perpetual 
reward and recognition. 







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XV. 

Abram Antoine, Bad Indian 

ABRAM ANTOINE, a Cacique of the Stock- 
bridge Tribe of Oneida Indians, had never be- 
fore while in Pennsylvania been off the water- 
shed of the Ohe-yu, or "The Beautiful River," called 
by the white men "Allegheny," until he accepted the 
position of interpreter to a group of chiefs from the 
New York and Pennsylvania Indians, to visit "The 
Great White Father," General Washington, at Mount 
Vernon. 

While the General had not been President for sev- 
eral years, and was living in retirement at his Virginia 
home, the red chieftains felt that his influence would 
be such that he could secure redress for their wrongs. 
Cornplanter had been on many such missions, and 
come home elated by promises, few of which were ever 
fulfilled in any shape, and none in their entirety, conse- 
quently he declined to accompany the mission on what 
he termed a "fool's errand." 

Abram Antoine, through life in New England. New 
York and Canada, had become much of a linguist, 
speaking English and French with toleraI)le fluency, 
besides being well versed in the Seneca and other In- 
dian tongues. He was a tall, handsome type of red- 
man, powerfully muscled, his career on "The Beautiful 
River," where he rafted and boated between the Res- 

199 



200 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

ervations and Pittsburg, and his service as a ranger 
for the Holland Land Company, had developed his 
naturally powerful form to that of a Hercules. Pre- 
viously he had served in the American Navy, during 
the Revolutionary War, which had instilled in him a 
lifetime respect for the name of Washington. He was 
eager therefore to act as interpreter on an occasion 
which would bring him into personal contact with the 
Father of his Country. 

The Indians took the usual overland route, coming 
down the Boone Road, to the West Branch of the 
Susquehanna at the mouth of Drury's Run ; from there 
they intended Jiiking across the mountains to Beech 
Creek, there to get on the main trail leading down the 
Bald Eagle Valley to Standing Stone (now Hunting- 
don), and from thence along the Juniata to Louis- 
bourg, then just beginning to be called Harrisburg. It 
had been an "open winter" thus far. 

At the W^est Branch they met an ark loaded with 
coal, bound for Baltimore, in charge of some Germans 
who had mined it in the vicinity of Mosquito Creek. 
Clearfield County, near the site of the later town of 
Karthaus. A friendly conversation was started be- 
tween the party of Indians on shore and the boatmen, 
with the result that the pilot of the ark, Christian 
Arndt, invited the redmen to climb abroard. 

The invitation being accepted with alacrity, the ark 
was steered close to the bank, and the Indians, running 
out on an uprooted snag which hung over the water, all 
leaped on the deck in safety. It made a jolly party 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 201 

from that moment on. The time passed happily, and 
many were the adventures and experiences en route. 
No stops of any consequence were made except at the 
mouth of Mianquank (Young Woman's Creek), and 
Utchowig (now Lock Haven), until the Isle of Que 
was reached, where other arks and flats and batteaux 
were moored, and there were so many persons of 
similar pursuits that a visit on dry land was in order. 

There was much conviviality at the public houses of 
Selin's Grove, and the Germans amused themselves 
trying to carry on conversations with the native Penn- 
sylvania Dutchmen, dusky, dark-featured individuals, 
who saw little affinity between themselves and the fair, 
podgy "High Germans." In wrestling and boxing 
matches, throwing the long ball, running races, and 
lifting heavy weights, the Germans were outclassed by 
the native mountaineers, but they took their defeats 
philosophically. A shooting match was held, at which 
all the Indians except Abram Antoine held aloof, but 
his marksmanship was so extraordinary that he man- 
aged to tie the score for the up-river team. This was 
a consolation for the Germans, and they left the Isle of 
Que well satisfied with their treatment. 
■ Other arks left their moorings at the same time, 
mostly loaded with grain or manufactured lumber from 
the Christunn and the Karoondinha, and the fleet was 
augmented by a batteau loaded with buft'alo hides, at 
the mouth of the West :\Iahantango. This was the last 
consignment of Pennsylvania bison hides ever taken to 
Harrisburg, the animals having been killed at their 



202 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 



crossing over the Firestone or Shade Mountains, the 
spring previous. 

It was a picturesque sight to see the fleet of arks 
and other boats coming down the noble river, the flood 
bank high, driving up flocks of water birds ahead of 
them, while aloft like aeroplanes guarding a convoy of 
transports, sailed several majestic American Eagles, 
ever circling, ever drifting, and then soaring heaven- 
ward. 

Out from the Juniata came several more arks, con- 
sequently the idlers in front of the rivermen's resorts 
at "The Ferry," as some of the old-timers still called 
Harrisburg, declared that they had never seen a flood 
bring in a larger flotilla at one time. All, however, 
were anxious to get in before the river closed up for 
the winter. 

When the up-river ark with its load of Teutons and 
redmen made its moorings for the night near the John 
Harris tree, they noticed that all the flags were at half- 
mast — there were many displayed in those days — and 
there was a Sunday calm among the crowds lolling 
along the banks in the wintry simshine. 

"Who's dead?" inquired Abram Antoinc, as he 
stepped on the dock ; his naval training had made him 
alert to the language of the flag. 

"General Washington," was the awed reply. 

The big Stockbridge Indian's jaw dropped, his life- 
time ambition of conversing with the "first in the hearts 
of his countrymen." and the purpose of the mission had 
been thwarted by a Higher Will. 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 203 

Turning to the gaudy appareled chief behind him, 
he conveyed the unhappy message. The Indians shook 
their heads so hard that their silver earrings rattled, 
and were more genuinely sorry that Washington was 
no more than the failure of their quest. All ashore, 
they held a conclave under the old Mulberry tree, de- 
ciding that there was no use to go any further, but 
would spend a day or two in the thriving new town, 
Louisbourg or Harrisburg, whichever it was proper to 
call it, and then return home. There was no use going 
to Philadelphia again, and a new prophet sat in the 
chair of the Father of his Country at the Nation's 
Capitol. 

The party then separated for the present, most of 
them hurrying to the nearest tavern stands to refresh 
thirsts made deeper by the sharp, fine air on the river. 
Abram Antoine stood undecided, one hand resting on 
the trunk of the historic Mulberry, a crowd of small 
boys watching him open-mouthed and wide-eyed, at a 
respectful distance. 

Pretty soon he was accosted by a very old, white- 
bearded Dutchman, with a strip of soiled gray silk on 
the lapel of his coat, which indicated that he was a 
veteran of the Royal American Regiment of Riflemen 
that had figured at Fort Duquesne in 1758. Abram 
Antoine had seen many such veterans in and about 
Pittsburg, and held out his hand to the aged military 
man. The old soldier signalled with his cane that the 
Indian come and sit with him on a nearby bench, which 
he did. and they passed an liour jjleasantly together. 



204 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

The conversation turned principally to soldiering, 
and then to firearms, and all the ancient makes of 
rifles were discussed, and their merits and demerits 
compared. The veteran allowed that the l)est rifle he 
had ever owned was of Spanish make, the kind car- 
ried hy the Highlanders in the campaigns of 1T5<S and 
1763; it was of slim barrel, light and easily handled, 
and unerring if used by a person of tolerable accuracy. 

There was one gunsmith in the alley over yonder, a 
veteran of the Revolution, named Adam Dunwicke, 
who made a rifle close to the early Spanish pattern. 
It was the best firearm being turned out in the State of 
Pennsylvania. The gunsmith, anyhow, was a man 
worth knowing, as his shop was filled with arms of 
many makes and periods, and he liked to talk with 
any one who was an enthusiast on guns. 

Abram .Antoine was fired l)y what the veteran told 
him. and as it was still early in the afternoon, asked if 
he would escort him thither. It would be fine if he 
could get an extra good rifle as a souvenir of his ill- 
starred trip to Mount \'ernon. The old man had too 
much time on his hands as it was, and was only too glad 
to pilot the redman to the workshop. They made a 
unique looking pair together, the old soldier, bent and 
hobbling along on his staff, the Indian, tall, erect, and 
in the prime of life. Tlieir high, aquiline noses, with 
piercing, deep-set eyes, were their sole points of physi- 
cal similarity. 

When they reached the guiishop. in the dark, narrow 
allev that ran out from b^ront Street, the veteran 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 205 

banged the grimy knocker, and it was almost instantly 
opened by Dunwicke himself, a sturdy man of medium 
height, who wore great mustaches, had on a leather 
apron and his sleeves were rolled up, revealing the 
brawny biceps of a smith. 

Standing by the gunmaker, in the shadowy, narrow 
entry, was a very pretty girl in a dark blue dress. She 
was as tall as the smith, but very trim and slight, and 
her chestnut brown hair was worn low over her ears, 
throwing into relief her pallid face, and the rather 
haunted, tired look in her fine grey eyes, the marvelous 
smooth lines of her chin and throat. 

A third figure now emerged from the gloom, a small 
Negro boy, to whom the girl was handing a letter, with 
her trembling white hands. As the Indian, the veteran 
and the gunsmith withdrew into the workroom, Abram 
could hear her saying to the lad, as she closed the door 
by way of added emphasis : "Tell him to be sure and 
come." 

He could hear the footsteps of the girl as she went 
upstairs, and henceforth he lost most of his interest in 
the question of ol)laining a rifle of the Spanish design. 
All his designs were elsewhere, and he was glad when 
the smith suggested they visit another room on the 
opposite side of the entry, to look at several sets of 
extra large horns of the grey moose or elk, which had 
recently come down on an ark from somewhere up 
Tiadaghton. 

/\s they crossed the hallway. Aljram Antoine looked 
up the flight of stairs — there were three that he could 



206 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

make out — wondering on which floor the fair appari- 
tion retired to ; he presumed pretty near the roof, as 
he had not heard her on the loose laid floor above the 
workshop. 

When they returned to the gun shop, the Indian, 
knowing the smith well enough by then, inquired who 
the lady was whom they had seen in the entry. 

"Oh, I don't (juite know what she is." he replied. 
"She stays upstairs, under the roof ; you know that the 
upper floors of this building are let for lodgers." 

Instantly a life's story, tragic or unusual, grouped 
itself about his image of the girl, and his heart was 
filled with yearning. He was hoping against hope 
that she would come down again. He had no excuse to 
go up, but several times while the smith was chatting 
with the veteran of the Royal Americans, he managed 
to wander across the hall, looking up the well towards 
the grimy skylight, and then took another perfunctory 
glance at the huge antlers standing against the wall. 
He prolonged his stay as long as he could, saying 
that he liked to watch gunmakers at work, and having 
ordered and paid for a costly rifle, he felt that his 
presence was justified. 

It was well into the gloaming when "knock, knock, 
knock" on the front door resounded through the hollow 
old building. Abram Antoine's blood ran cold ; he 
could have shot the visitor if he was the slender girl's 
recalcitrant lover, but fervently hoped that, whoever it 
was, would have the efifect of bringing her downstairs. 

True enough, before he could get to the door at the 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 207 

smith's heel, he heard the Hght, famihar footsteps, and 
the girl, trying to look unconcerned, was the first to 
turn the lock. 

It was only Simon Harper, a big, lean hunter from 
Linglestown, over by the Blue Mountain, who had 
come to take delivery of a rifle made to order. 

"Oh, I am so disappointed," said the girl, as she 
turned to run upstairs. 

The smith was escorting his swarthy customer into 
the shop. Abram Antoine's opportunity had come, if 
ever. 

"Do you have the letting of the rooms upstairs ?" he 
said, politely, hat in hand. 

The girl looked at him ; it was probably the first 
time during the afternoon that she had noticed his pres- 
ence, so pre-occupied she had been. 

"No," she said, softly; "the lady lives on the next 
landing, but I saw her going out." 

Abraham was well aware how closely she had been 
watching that doorway! "Are there any vacancies?" 

The girl dropped her head as if in doubt about car- 
rying on the conversation further, then replied : "1 
think there are." 

"Will you show them to me?" said the Indian. 

Whether it was loneliness or desperation at the non- 
arrival of the person to whom she had sent the letter, 
or the tall redman's superlative good looks and genteel 
demeanor — for a handsome man can attempt what a 
plain one dare never aspire — at any rate without an- 



208 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

otlicr word, she turned and led the way up tlie long, 
steep stairs. 

It was with no sense of surprise that she brought 
him to the top of the house, into her own garret, with 
its two small dormer windows which gave a view in 
the direction of the Narrows at Fort Hunter, and the 
broad, majestic river. There was a narrow bed with a 
soiled coverlet, a portmanteau, a brass candlestick, and 
two rush-bottomed chairs, and nothing else in it. In 
those days lodgers washed at the well in the back yard. 

Both sat down as if they had known each other all 
their lives ; the frigid barrier of reserve of a few min- 
utes earlier had broken down. They were scarcely 
seated when the ominous "clank, clank, clank," that 
the girl had been listening for so intently all afternoon, 
resounded up the dismal vault of the stairway. 

Casting a frightened look at the big Indian, as much 
as to say, "What will Jic say if he finds you here?" she 
l)Ounded out of the room, descending the steps two or 
three at a time. 

Abram Antoine did not take the hint lo retire, if 
such was meant, and sat stolidly in the high-backed, 
rush-bottomed chair, in the unlighted room. It was 
only a few minutes until she returned, her face red, all 
out of breath, carrying the same letter which he had 
seen her hand to the colored boy earlier in the after- 
noon. 

"Not in town, don't know when he will return," she 
was chanting to herself, as she came through the open 
door. She started back, as if surprised to find her new 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 209 

champion ^//7/ there. Without speaking, she dropped 
down on the bed, facing- him, fanning her flushed cheeks 
with the envelope, although the little room was quite 
cold. 

"I am sorr}' that your letter was undelivered," said 
Abram Antoine, after a considerable silence. There 
was another pause, and then the girl, still clutching the 
fated letter, revealed her story of embarrassment. 

"It isn't a long story," she began. "Aly name is 
Ernestine de Kneuse. My father is the well-known 
miller and land-owner at New Berlinville. in Berks 
County — Solomon de Kneuse. About a year ago a 
yovmg stranger, Carl Nitschman, I think a High Ger- 
man, came to the town, stopping at the 'Three Friends' 
Inn, which it was rumored he was to purchase. While 
negotiating, he naturally met many of the leading peo- 
ple. He was handsome and engaging, and all the girls 
went wild over him. It gave me a fiendish pleasure to 
think that he favored me above the rest, and one after- 
noon 1 cut my classes at the Select Academy, where I 
was in my third year, and went walking with him. 

"My father, who belonged to the old school, had a 
hatred for any one who might even consider going into 
the liquor business, saw us together and told mother. 
On reaching home, although I was eighteen and had 
not had even a spanking for several years, and thought 
I had outgrown it, my mother took me to my room and 
administered a good, sound 'scotching' with the rod. 

"Previously thev had forbidden the voung man the 



210 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

house, and when I informed him how I was treated, he 
told me if I was disciplined again, to run away. 

"Not long afterwards I was kept in at school, and 
mother accused me of meeting my lover. I told her to 
go to the school and find out for herself, which she did, 
but nevertheless that evening my mother visited me in 
my room with the strap, and walloped me until I was 
black and blue from shoulders to ankles. 

"Meanwhile Carl's negotiations for the purchase of 
the tavern had fallen through, and he was preparing to 
leave for Reading. Through one of my girl friends 
who was not so strictly raised, I communicated to him 
the story of this latest indignity, begging him to take 
me with him. He replied that he would l)e traveling 
about for some time before settling down there, but as 
soon as he was located, he would send me his address, 
and to come. 

"I recall the morning of his departure, how I crawled 
out of bed before dawn, and pressed my tear-stained 
face against the window lights as he climbed on the 
coach at the inn. which was across the street from 
where we lived, and settling down among his goodly 
store of bags and boxes, was driven away. 

"Weeks passed, and I eventually got a letter through 
one of my girl friends whose parents were less strict, 
that he had gone to Harrisburg, and I should join him 
there. By exercising a great amount of ingenuity, I 
got out of the house, and on the night stage for Read- 
ing, during one of the terrilile Equinoctial rains, 
making close connections with another stage for Har- 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 211 

risburg, and I came to my present abode a month be- 
fore, but have never once seen Nitschman in the in- 
terval. 

"I've now learned that my parents are on my track, 
and will reach town tonight ; I have spent my last cent, 
and my letters to Nitschman receive no satisfactory 
answers. I am now penniless, and cannot pay my 
lodging, have eaten nothing all day, and have no place 
to go. I would not return for all the world and subject 
myself to an irate mother.". 

The Indian was much interested by the recital, and 
told her that he had loved her the minute he laid eyes 
on her, and would marry her if she would return with 
him to his home, which adjoined the Cornplanter Res- 
ervation, in Warren County. "I will marry you right 
away if you will accept." 

Pressed and harassed on all sides, and hungry as 
well, Ernestine, looking up into the handsome face of 
the redman, capitulated. Closing up her scanty belong- 
ings in the shabby portmanteau, she went down to the 
landlady and settled her liill in full out of a "Double 
Eagle" which Abram gave her, and then the pair 
quickly left the building. The gunshop was locked, 
and dark, the veteran of the Royal Americans and the 
smith had forgotten all about their Indian friend and 
gone their ways regardless. 

They soon found the leading hotel stand, where they 
enjoyed a good supper and learned of a preacher who 
would marry them. 

Just as they were about to leave the tavern the stage 



212 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

from Readiiiy" and Stitestown pulled in, horses and 
running gear all spattered with mud and slush. Among 
the hrst to clamber out was old Solomon de Kneuse and 
his wile. 1)ut they gave them the slip in the darkness 
and confusion. 

.\t the manse, after the ceremony, the clergyman 
mentioned that his brother was to be a juryman the 
next day at the trial of Nitschman. the highwayman, 
who had held up and robbed the aristocratic lMcx\fee 
family on the road to York Springs. "May he pay 
dearly for interfering with ([uality," he added, se- 
riously. 

Ernestine hung her head : she understood now why 
it was she had been unal)le to see her lover since she 
came to the town; he had been in jail, and perhaps she 
was stung with some tiny feelings of remorse to have 
renounced him so (juickly. However, necessity knows 
no law, but she thought she knew her man. 

Before daybreak the newly married couple were en- 
sconced in the stage bound for Northumberland and 
Williamsport, and in due course of time reached their 
future home, just across the river from Corydon. 

None of the other Indians returned for several 
weeks. \\'hen they did, they were miserable looking 
objects from drink, and Abram half blamed himself 
for not looking after them, but love had blinded him to 
everything else. He provided a comfortable home for 
his bride, and as an agent for the Holland Land Com- 
l)any, mingled with respectal)le peoi)le. who were con- 
siderate to his wife. Among these were the familv of 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 213 

Philip Tome, that indomitable Indian-looking Xim- 
rod, author of "Thirty Years a Hunter," whose prowess 
in the forests of Northern Pennsylvania will never be 
forgotten while memory of the big game days lasts. 

Ernestine was really happy, and did not aspire to 
any different lot. Though she was fearless, she hated 
to be left alone when her husband was absent on in- 
spection trips, and he generally managed to have an 
Indian boy or girl — one of the O'Bails or Logans — 
remain with her when he was away. 

In due time his handsome Spanish-type rifle, with its 
stock inlaid with mother-of-pearl and silver, like the 
gun of some Moorish Sheik, reached him, and of it he 
was justly proud, partly because it was the instrument 
of his meeting Ernestine. 

On the first anniversary of their wedding he killed a 
fine stag with it on the Kinzua, while hunting with 
Philip Tome. It was in the fall of the second year of 
their marriage that Abram Antoine was called away 
away during a heavy flood in the Ohe-yu, which flowed 
in front of their house. Old Shem, the one-eyed, half- 
breed ferryman, had difficulty in getting him across 
in the batteau, so swift was the angry current. He was 
to be gone, as usual, several days. 

On the night when she was expecting him home, 
Ernestine heard a loud knocking at the kitchen door. 
Opening it she beheld Old Shem standing outside, the 
rain dripping from his hat and clothing. 

"Missus Antoine," he wheezed, "Abram is over to 



214 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

the public house at Corydon, a very sick man, and 
wants you to come to him at once." 

Ernestine was horrified, but, jerking down her 
cloak from the nail on which it hung, ran out into the 
storm, and followed the aged ferryman down the steep 
bank to the landing. The wind was bellowing terribly 
among the almost bear hickories and butternuts along 
the shore, the current was deep, dark and eddying. 

When one-third the way over, Old Shem looked up, 
saying: "Missus, it hain't Abram that's sick; it's your 
other man, Mister Nitschman, what wants you." 

"My other man !" shouted Ernestine, "I never had 
any other man. Take me back home at once, you 
treacherous old snake in the grass." 

Just then a pile of Ijuffalo robes in one end of the 
deep batteau stirred, and the form of a man arose — 
Carl Nitschman, back from jail. 

"Talk sensibly, Ernestine." he said. "I have come 
for you, and will forgive everything. You know you 
belong to me; your going off with that Indian was all 
a hasty mistake." 

Ernestine glared at him and again ordered the ferry- 
man to take her home. Instead he seemed to be trying 
to reacli the Corydon shore the faster. Just then 
Nitschman stepped forward, with arms outstretched, 
as if to seize her. 

The slight and supple Ernestine sprang up on the 
gunwale, the boat tipped; she cither fell or jumped into 
the dark, swirling current. She was gone before an 
effort could be made to save her, and the two fright- 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 215 

ened men, white as ghosts, pulled for the light which 
gleamed through the storm, in the tavern window at 
Corydon, with redoubled energy. With a thud the 
prow hit the muddy l:»ank and slid on shore. 

To their surprise Abram Antoine was standing on 
the bank. The one-eyed ferryman began to cry, a 
strange thing for any one of Indian blood. "I was 
fetching your wife across to meet you and she fell in 
the river." 

Just then Xitschman. who had climbed out of the 
boat, was passing by Antoine, who seized him by the 
collar. "Who is this son of ?" demanded the six- 
foot Indian. 

It was then that the ferryman broke down completely 
and confessed all. 

Antoine shook his captive like a rat, and slapped his 
face many times, eventually tumbling him into the mud 
and kicking him like a sack of flour. Then, picking up 
an oar, he beat the ferryman over the head until he 
yelled for mercy. The noise roused the habitues of 
the hotel, and as the victims were shouting "murder,"' 
the local Constable, who ran the hotel, placed Abram 
Antoine under arrest, beginning his fatal brand as 
"Bad Indian." 

Nitschman did not appear to press the charge next 
day, and the ferryman apologized for his part in the 
affair, so Abram was free, minus his beautiful wife 
and his reputation. 

It was beginning with that terrible tragedy that he 
began to find solace at the tap room of the ])ul)lic house 



216 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

at Corydon. Philip Tome and even old Cornplanter 
himself tried his best to save him, but he became an 
Indian sot, losing his position with the land company, 
his home and his self-respect. All that he held on to, 
and that because being an Indian he was sentimental, 
was his Spanish rifle with the inlaid stock. He spent 
more and more of his time in the forests, shunning 
white people and fraternizing only with his own kind. 
He made a protege out of young Jim Jacobs, a Seneca 
hunter of unusual ability, and they spent many weeks 
at a time in the forests. 

To him he confided that l^efore he died he would 
literally have Nitsthman's scalp, liave the l)lood atone- 
ment against the destroyer of his happiness. 

A score of years had to pass before lie met the ex- 
highwayman face to face. He had heard of the early 
exploits of this modern Claude Du Val, who was sup- 
posed to have reformed, and his blood boiled that such 
a villainous wretch could wander about scot free. 

It was in the fall of the year, about ]8"3"2 or there- 
abouts, when the great county fair was in progress at 
Morris Hills, one of the leading towns above the Xew 
York State line, adjacent to the Indian reservations. 
All manner of persons were attracted Ijy the horse 
races, di.splays of cattle. Indian foot races and lacrosse 
games, as well as the more questional)lc side shows and 
gambling performances. 

Abram Antoine's Indian friends had been sobering 
him up for weeks, and he presented a pretty good 
appearance for a man of over sixty, when he appeared 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 217 

to challenge all comers in tests of marksmanship with 
the rifle. Never had "The Chief," as everyhody called 
him, done hetter than the afternoon of the first day of 
the fair. The wild pigeons were flying high overhead 
in the clear, blue atmosphere of that fine crisp autumn 
day, but whenever he turned his rifle upwards he 
brought one down for the edification and applause of 
the crowd. 

Just as he had shot a pigeon, his keen eye noticed a 
medium-sized, fair-haired man, loudly dressed, edging 
hurriedly through the throng, as if trying to get away. 
Antoine had never seen Nitschman except that night 
when he had trampled him into the mud, but this fel- 
low's size and general demeanor corresponded with 
his mental conception of the one tnat he had ever after- 
wards regretted that he had not slain. 

Moving with rapid strides through the crowd, pig- 
mies beside his giant stature, he blocked his little ene- 
my's further progress. "Nitschman, I believe you are," 
he said. 

"No, no; that hain't my name," spluttered the short 
man, coloring to the roots of his faded yellow hair. 

"Yes, it is, Chief," yelled a young Indian who was 
standing close by. 

That confirmation was all that .Vbram Antoine, bad 
Indian, wanted. Swinging his rifle above the crowd, 
he brought it down with terrific force on the head of 
his foe, crashing right through his high, flat brimmed 
beaver hat and shattering the lock. 

To use the language of Jim Jacobs, Nitschman fell to 



218 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 



the turf like a "white steer," and laid there, weltering 
in blood, for he was dead. 

All the latent hate and jealousy in the crowd against 
Indians immediately found vent, and an angry mob 
literally drove Abram Antoine, bad Indian, out of the 
fair grounds to the town lockup. It was some time 
during 1823 that he expiated his crime on the gallows. 




XVI. 

Do You Believe in Ghosts? 

AD. KARSTETTER, painstaking local histor- 
ian, tells us that there was no more noteworthy 
• spot in the annals of mountainous Pennsylvania 
than the old Washington Inn at Logansville. Built 
after the fashion of an ancient English hostelry, with 
its inn-yard surrounded hy sheds and horse stables, it 
presented a most picturesque appearance to discerning 
travelers. The passage of time had ohlierated it, long 
before the great fire on June 24, 1918, swept the town, 
removing even the landmarks which would have showed 
where the old-time inn was situated. 

Many are the tales, grave or gay, clustered about its 
memory, far more, says Mr. Karstetter. than were 
connected with the Logan Hotel, run by the Coles, 
which was erected at a much later day, just when the 
old coaching days were passing out, and the new era 
coming in. All of the history that grew up about the 
Washington Inn ante-dated the Civil War, while that 
of the Logan Hotel was of the period of that war and 
later. This gives one a good mental picture of the type 
of legend interwoven with the annals of the ancient 
Washington Inn. 

A winter rain had set in, just at dusk, as the great 
lumbering five-horse coach (three wheelers and two 
leaders) from Hightown entered the straggling out- 

219 



220 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

skirts of Logansville. The i)ost hoy on the Ijoot l)lew 
his long horn vociferonsi}-. waking the echoes up 
Summer Creek, then l)ack again, clear to tlie "Grand- 
father Pine" at Chadwick's (iap. 

A whimsical old (ierman, wlio worked ai Jacob 
Eilert's pottery, picked up his old tin horn that he used 
to blow as a boy when wolves or Indians were about, 
and answered the clarion in cracked, uncertain notes. 
Lights glimmered in cabin windows, and many a tallow 
dip, fat lamp or rushlight was held aloft to get a good 
view of the coach as it swirled along through the mud, 
and its crowded company. Everybody was standing 
u]), Imttoning their coats and gathering together their 
luggage, as the big. clumsy vehicle checked up under 
the swinging sign, on which was painted the well- 
loved features of the Father of His Country. 

The old landlord, his wife and the hostlers and 
stable boys and household help were outside to assist 
the travelers to alight and show them into the comfort- 
able glow of the lobby. 

"When do you start out in the morning?" all were 
asking of the rosy-cheeked driver, although the hour 
for continuing the journey west from Logansville was 
printed in big letters on the rate card at the posting 
office at liightown, as "Sharp, G.OO A. M." 

In the candle-lit lobby, by a blazing fire of maple 
logs, the travelers surveyed one another, the landlord 
and their surroundings. They were an even dozen in 
number, nine men and three women. Some of the men 
were hunters, and had their Lancaster rifles with them; 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 221 

the others commercial travelers. The women were also 
engaged in business pursuits. 

The stage was the sole means of penetrating into the 
back country, and the canals and the Pennsylvania 
Central Railroad (now known as the Main Line) the 
only methods of crossing the Keystone State in those 
early days. 

A good supper was served — hickory smoked ham and 
eggs, hot cakes and native grown maple syrup, and 
plentiful libations of original Murray "Sugar \'alley" 
whiskey, which put the huntsmen and the drummers in 
capital humor. After the meal they lirought out their 
pipes and sat in groups about the fire in the great, low- 
ceilinged room. The three women, who were middle- 
aged and of stolid appearance, sat together, talking in 
undertones. 

All at once, when the fire suddenly spluttered uj). 
one of the drummers, a big, black-l)earded fellow, said 
loudl)- enough so that all could hear — he was evidently 
trying to make the conversation general — "In the 
mountains they say that it's a sign of a storm when the 
fire jumps up like that." 

"And I guess we're having it," said another of the 
travelers, a little man with gray side whiskers, dryly. 

Then, as wide shadows fell across the floor, another 
of the men, a hunter, ventured the remark: "Do you 
believe in ghosts?" 

There was a pause, as if no one wanted to take up 
such a very personal topic before strangers. It was 
in the davs when the Fox sisters were electrifying all 



222 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

of Pennsylvania, including the celebrated Dr. Elisha 
Kane, with their mediumship, so that it was as popular 
a topic then as now, in the days of Sir Oliver Lodge 
and Mrs. Herbine. 

At length one of the men, also a hunter, from Berks 
County, broke the silence by asking if any one present 
had heard the story of the Levan ghost of Oley Town- 
ship, in Berks; if not, he would tell it. Xone had ever 
heard it, so he told of the yovnig Levan girl who had 
lost her father, to whom she was jmrticularly attached. 

One evening, while milking, she was seized with a 
very strong feeling that her father was near, which 
feeling kept up for a week, growing stronger daily. .\t 
last one evening she went into her room — the house 
was built all on one floor — and she saw her father, as 
natural as life, seated on an old chest that had come 
from l<"rance, for the Levans were llugucnot refugees. 

The girl did not seem to be afraid to see her father, 
about whom a light seemed to radiate, and they con- 
versed some time together. mostl\- on religious topics. 
Her mother and sisters, who were in another room, 
heard her talking, and the voice which sounded like 
that of the departed, and came to the door, which was 
ajar. 

"Who are you talking to?" the mother inquired. 

"To father — he is here; come in and see him," re- 
plied the girl, calmly. 

The family was afraid to enter, remaining outside 
until the conversation had finished and the ghost van- 
ished. When the girl rejoined them, the side of her 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 223 

face that had been turned to her father was shghtly 
scorched or reddened, as if she had been close to a fire. 
And that tenderness of skin remained as long as she 
lived. 

While other versions of the story have appeared, 
this is the way it was told that stormy night in the 
Washington Inn in the long ago. 

The ice having been broken, one of the women spoke 
up, saying that the part of the story which told of the 
girl's face l)eing burned by the aura from the ghost 
interested her most, that over in the Nittany Valley 
there was a case in the old Carroll family of a woman 
who had an only child which she loved to distraction, 
but which unfortunately died. The mother took on 
terribly, and during the night when she was sitting up 
with the little corpse, besought it to prove to her that 
the dead lived, if only for just one minute. 

In the midst of her weeping and wailing, and romp- 
ing about the cold, dimly-lit room, the dead child rose 
up in its little pine box and motioned its sorrowing 
mother to come to it. The woman ran to the coffin and 
the little one touched her forehead with its finger, 
which burned her like a red-hot poker. Then it sank 
back with a gasp and a groan, and was dead again. 
Ever afterwards there was a sore, tender spot on the 
woman's forehead where the corpse had touched it. 

Then another of the women told how she had been 
selling Bibles in the Great Smoky :\Iountains in Ten- 
nessee, and one of the wheels of her carriage became 
dished from the bad roads. She had tried to put up 



224 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

with a mountaineer who would not take her in, and 
gave her the choice of sleeping in the barn with the 
team and the driver, or to occupy a room in a deserted 
Negro "quarters" across the road. 

All night long she had been annoyed by her candles 
being blown out and the door blowing open, though she 
locked it time and again. 

It was a commonplace sort of a ghost storv. and one 
of the hunters pawned at its conclusion. The evening's 
reminiscences might have ended then and there if the 
tliird woman traveler, tlie youngest and sturdiest of 
the lot, who thus far had been the quietest, turned to 
the landlord, who sat smoking in the settle, with a 
couple of his guests, asking him if he rememljcred the 
Big Calf. 

"What do you know about the Big Calf?" he said, 
quizzically, looking at the woman in order to see if he 
could recognize her. 

"I know as much as you do. I reckon." she said. "I 
lived in this town for a year learning millinery with 
Emilie Knecht." 

"You hain't Annie Moylan?" said the landlord. 

"I surely am," responded the woman, " and I knew 
you well, jakey Kleckner, in those days." 

"Well, go on, then, and tell the whole story, for it is 
a real ghost story. I calculate no one will yawn during 
its recital," said the boniface. sitting up very straight. 

"Long years ago," began the business woman, "\shen 
this public house was first opened, the landlord's cow 
gave birth to an unusual calf. At six weeks it was as 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 225 

big as most heifers of six months, and it was handsome 
and intelligent, a brown-gray color— 'Brown Swiss' 
they called the breed. All the drovers and cattle buyers 
in the mountains wanted that calf for a show, and her 
fame spread all over the 'five counties.' 

"There were two buyers from out about Greensburg 
that came in all the ways to get her, but the price was 
too steep. They hung around all day, drinking with 
the landlord in the tap room, and though he took too 
much in this drunken bout, kept enough of his wits 
with him to refuse to lower the price one shilling. The 
next morning he had to go away on important business, 
and in the afternoon the drovers returned, telling the 
landlord's wife that they had met her husband on the 
road, and he had consented to accept a lower figure. 

"The woman replied that while she was sorry her 
'man' had shown such weakness to change his mind so 
quickly, when on leaving he had told her that he had 
been sickened by the importunities of the two strangers 
the day before, yet she claimed the calf as hers and it 
would not leave the premises for any price, and except 
over her dead body. She prized it especially since she 
had also raised the mother, which had recently been 
killed by a wandering panther. 

"The men departed in an ugly mood. When the 
boniface returned in the evening he was indignant at 
what his wife told him ; he had not met the drovers on 
the road, and if he had, the calf was not for sale. 

"Shortly after his arrival a German Gypsy, one of 
the Einsicks, appeared in the inn-yard with a big she- 



226 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

bear, a brown one, which he took about the mountains 
to dance and amuse the crowds at ])ul)Hc houses, fairs 
and pohtical meetings. The stables were full, but after 
some arguing the landlord consented to let the bear 
occupy the box stall where he kept the Big Calf, which 
he removed to the smoke house. 

"During the night, which was very dark, the covetous 
drovers returned, and, not knowing of the Big Calf's 
changed quarters, one of them went into steal it. In 
the darkness the bear seized him and hugged him al- 
most to death. His companion, vexed at his slowness 
in fetching out the Big Calf, called to him. and he made 
known his predicament. 

"There was no way to free the captive but to begin 
clubbing the bear, which set up such a loud growling 
that it aroused the owner and the landlord, who ran out 
with pistols, just in time to see the two would-be cattle 
thieves decamping from the inn-yard. They both fired 
after them, but the scoundrels got off scot free. They 
never returned. 

"The Big Calf grew into a very handsome cow. and 
was the pride of the mountain community. It was 
always brought in from pasture at night and milked, 
lest it share its mother's fate and be pulled down by a 
Pennsylvania lion. 

"One evening, while the landlord's only daughter, a 
very pretty, graceful girl, was driving the cow home, 
she was joined by a handsome, dark-complexioned 
young man, mounted on a superb black horse. He 
accompanied her to the stables, where he watched her 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 227 

milk, and then put up for the night at the inn. Next 
day he became very sick, and several doctors were called 
in, who bled him, but could not diagnose his ailment. 

''Meanwhile he proposed marriage to the landlovd's 
daughter, who nursed him, pretending that he was a 
young man of quality from Pittsburg, which flattered 
the innkeeper and his daughter mightily. 

"All this while he was trying to learn if the landlord 
kept any large sum of money in the house. It was not 
long until the girl confided to him that her father had 
gone into debt buying a farm in Nippenose Bottom, 
as he wanted to retire from the tavern business. It 
was there where he was when the two dishonest drovers 
from Greensburg had returned and tried to euchre his 
wife out of the Big Calf. 

"Satisfied that there was no booty in the house, the 
fellow rose one morning before daybreak, dressed 
quietly, although the girl was in the room, wrote a 
note to her which he left on the clothes press, and made 
his escape. The wording of the letter ran about as fol- 
lows: 

" 'Dearest Love : — I am sorry to have left without 
saying goodbye, but my intentions were not sincere, 
for while I admired your beauty and good sense, which 
none can deny, I was only here to find out where your 
father kept his money. But since he has none, and has 
gone into debt, I need remain no longer. I thank you 
for all the information you gave me, and for your 
kind attentions. Gratefully yours. David Lewis.' 

"The poor girl had been one of the dupes of the 



228 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

celebrated 'Lewis the Robber,' or some one imperson- 
ating him, as he had many alter egos, sorne more daring 
than himself, and understudies. If half the stories told 
of his exploits were true, he would have had to be a 
hundred years old to do them, and get to so many 
places. 

"At any rate, the pretty girl was frightfully cut up 
by her misfortune, and took to the bed lately vacated 
by 'Lewis.' She had told all of her friends that she 
was to marry in a fortnight, and go to live in a big 
house on Grant's Hill, Pittsburg, and it was all terrible 
and humiliating. Rather than let the real story get out, 
the girl's parents connived with her to say that word 
had been brought that the young gentleman, while 
riding near Standing Stone Town, had been thrown 
from his horse and killed. Hence when the girl was 
able to reappear, she was dressed in ])lack. as if in 
mourning for her dashing sweetheart. 

"The first time she came out of doors she went for a 
walk alone just about dusk, so that not many people 
would be abroad, towards the lower part of the village. 
She was never seen or heard of again. There was no 
stream or pool big enough for her to drown herself in; 
a panther could hardly have dragged her off and not 
left signs of a struggle ; she might have fallen in a 
cave or sink, it is true. At all events, it seemed as if 
the earth had swallowed her up. Perhaps Lewis, or 
whoever he was, came back after her. 

"When I came to Logansville to learn millinery with 
Emilie Knecht, I lived in her house over the store, just 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 229 

across the way from this hotel ; the building was Ijurned 
down afterwards. How such a gifted milliner came 
to settle off here in the mountains I could never tell, 
but I suppose mountain ladies must have nice hats just 
like those in the valleys. 

"We became good friends, and very confidential, 
though at that time she was over thirty years of age 
and I was at least a dozen years younger. She would 
never tell where she came from, except that it was 
down country, and there seemed to be something on 
her mind which weighed on her terribly. Though I 
think she was the loveliest looking woman I have ever 
seen, she cared absolutely nothing for the men. As 
she believed in ghosts, and so did I, we compared ex- 
periences. 

"I told her of a ghostly episode which left a deep 
impression on my childish nature, which happened 
when I was six years old. My father worked in the 
mines, and was on 'night shift.' Mother locked the 
doors and we all went to bed. Mother's room adjoined 
mine and my sister's. After w-e were in bed for some 
time, but not yet asleep, a man — he seemed to be black 
— came to the door which led from mother's room to 
ours, and smiled at us. He drew back, re-appeared 
and smiled again, or rather grinned, showing his white 
teeth; it was a peculiar smile. 

"I wanted to call mother, but sister, who was eight, 
said I must not speak, I must keep very still. 

"Next morning we asked father what time he came 
home, and he said 'not until morning.' We told our 



230 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

experience, Intt father and mother seemed to think we 
had only imagined it. 

"But two persons do not imagine the same thing at 
the same time. Besides, we were not afraid. I have 
often wondered what it was. My sister died sht^rtly 
after that. Could it have heen a 'warning,' I wonder? 

"The prett}- milliner's story was even more startling 
and unusual. She declared that her grandmother's 
ghost had come to her bedside every night since she 
was a small child. She said that she never feared it, 
but took it as a matter of course. I think that these 
nightly visitations took a whole lot out of her. I can 
see her yet running down the steep, narrow stairs in 
the mornings to the shop where I was working — I was 
always an early riser — her face looking as if it had 
been whitewashed, more so perhaps because her hair 
and eyes were so dark. 

"She was often nervous and irritable, and I laid it all 
to the vital force which the ghost must be drawing out 
of her to materialize, but she said it was only her liver 
which made her so dauncy. I begged her to let me 
sleep with her, that I did not think that the ghost 
would come if I was present, and if it did it could draw 
on some of my vitality, as I was a big, strong, hearty 
girl. She would not let me sleep wnth her, saying that 
she had gotten used to the ghost. 

"One evening Miss Knccht and I were invited to a 
chicken and waffle supper at the home of old Mrs. 
Eilert, wife of the potter, whose house was the last 
one in town. In those days there was quite a distance 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 231 

not built up between the potter's home and the rest of 
the village. The holidays were approaching, and we 
were getting ready for the Christmas trade, conse- 
quently stayed later in the shop than we had expected. 

"As I said before, Mrs. Eilert lived at the extreme 
end of town. When we were a few squares from home 
we noticed a woman dressed in mourning who seemed 
to be following us, or at least going in our direction. 
She was an entire stranger to us, and we wondered 
where she could be going; so each house we came to I 
would look l)ack to see whether she entered. When 
we were half a square from where we were going, we 
passed a house which stood back pretty far from the 
road. There was considerable ground to the place, 
and a high board fence all around. After we passed 
the gate I turned, as before, to see whether this woman 
would enter. She did not. I watched her until she was 
past the gate quite a ways. I turned and told my com- 
panion she had not entered, and immediately turned to 
look at her again, and she was gone ! 

"Where could she have gone in those few seconds in 
which I was not looking at her ? Everywhere there was 
open space — nowhere for her to hide. Had she jumped 
the fence she could not have gotten out of sight in those 
few seconds. I have often wondered since what it was. 

"When we reached the Eilert home I noticed that 
Miss Knecht was in a highly unstrung condition, more 
so than I had ever seen her before. We told the story, 
and the old potter smiled grimly, saying: 'You surely 
have seen the ghost of the landlord's daughter who 



232 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

disappeared, all dressed in black, after being jilted by 
the robber.' 

"Emilie shook her pretty dark curls, muttering that 
she feared it was something worse. She was afraid 
to go home that night, and we spent the night with our 
friends; yet she would not remain unless given a room 
by herself. In the morning she was in a most despond- 
ent mood ; she had not seen her grandmother — what 
could it mean? 

"The woman in black must have been her 'familiar' 
leaving her, warning her to that effect, and not the 
ghost of the landlord's daughter after all, she main- 
tained. I tried to reassure her that she would see her 
grandmother once she was in her own room, but next 
morning brought the tidings that the faithful spirit was 
again absent. This continued for a week, my friend 
becoming more nervous and despondent. 

"One morning she did not come downstairs, so at 
eight o'clock I went up after her, to see if she were ill. 
The bed was empty, and had not been slept in. I 
searched the house and found her lying dead on a mis- 
erable cot in the cellar — beautiful in death — which an 
elderly Dutchman sometimes occupied, when cutting 
wood and taking care of the garden for us. She had 
drunk a potion of arsenic that she had bought some 
months before to poison rats which infested the cellar, 
but her lovely face was not marked. 

"I left town shortly afterwards, and have never been 
back until tonight." 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 



233 



The burly commercial traveler who had started the 
general conversation stroked his long black beard. 

"I guess it is time for all of us to retire. I don't 
think we need to ask this lady again,' 'Do you believe 
in ghosts ?' " 




XVII. 

A Stone's Throw 

WHEN land warrants were allotted to Jacob 
Marshall and Jacob Mintges, of the Hebrew 
colony at Schaefferstown, there were elaborate 
preparations made by these two lifelong friends to 
migrate to the new country of the Christunn. That the 
warrants were laid side by side made the situation 
doubly pleasant, a compensation in a measure for any 
regrets at leaving the ])anks of the beautiful ]\Iilbach. 
The country was becoming too closely settled, opportu- 
nities were circumscribed, and the liberality of the 
Proprietary Government should be taken advantage of. 

When the two groups of pioneers were ready to start 
for the new home, it was like some scene from the 
patriarchal days of the Old Testament. The long, lean, 
gaunt, black-bearded Jews, black-capped, cloaked to 
their heels, and carrying big staffs, led the way. fol- 
lowed by their families and possessions of live stock, 
farming and household utensils. Each head of a family 
had an Indian and Negro servant or two, which added 
to the picturesqueness of the caravans. Dogs, part 
wolf, herded the flocks of sheep, goats and young cat- 
tle, while the women rode on mares, the foals of which 
trotted along unsteadily at their sides. 

Rachel, Jacob Marshall's handsome daughter, was 
mounted on a piebald fdly; on her back was slung her 

234 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 235 

violin, a genuine Joseph (juarnerius, with which she 
discoursed sacred music around the campfire in the 
evenings, just as her ancestors may have done on some 
harp or cruit in remote days in Palestine or in the Ara- 
bian highlands. 

These German Jews, who came to Pennsylvania in 
1702 to re-convert the Indians, whom they believed to 
be the lost tribe of Israel, back to the ancient faith of 
Moses, while destined to fail as proselyters, became 
one of the potent root sources of the so-called Pennsyl- 
vania Dutch, "The Black Dutch" of the Christunn, 
Philadelphia, New York and the World. 

The Pennsylvania Dutch are the most adaptable race 
in the world, altering the spelling of their names, their 
genealogies and traditions with every generation. They 
find success in all callings and in all walks of life like 
the true Nomads that they are. A Pennsylvania Dutch- 
man's lineage is kaleidoscopic any way — possibly 
German, Jewish, probably Indian, with sure admixtures 
of Dutch, Quaker, Swiss, Scotch-Irish, Greek, Bohe- 
mian, Spanish or Huguenot. And there were some 
propagandists shallow enough to try to line them up 
wnth Kaiserism in the days just anterior to the World 
War, and call them "Pennsylvania Germans." 

Their very swarthiness and leanness, the intenseness 
of their black eyes, gave the lie to any Teutonic affilia- 
tions, despite the jargon that they speak. And what a 
race of giants they have produced — Pershing, Hoover, 
Gorgas, Schwal), Rcplogle, Sproul, the Wanamakers, 
Newton Diehl Baker, Jane Addams — a group as potent 



236 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

as any other in the su1)hme efifort of making the world 
"safe for democracy." 

When the pilgrims reached the Karoondinha, they 
were met by the local agents and surveyors of the Pro- 
prietors, who escorted them to their new estates, which 
were bounded on the south by the Christunn, now re- 
named ''Middle Creek," and on the north by the craggy 
heights of the culminating pinnacle of Jack's Mountain, 
the famed "High Top," climbed by the Pennsylvania 
Alpine Club, August 24, 1919. 

A large gray fox, or Colishay. having led Mintges' 
dogs away from the camp, caused this "Father in Is- 
rael" to be absent during the critical moments when 
the line between his property and that of Marshall was 
being confirmed by the Proprietary surveyors. When 
he returned, exultingly swinging the fox's pelt above 
his head and looking all the world like a lower Fifth 
Avenue fur jobljer. the day was almost spent and the 
surveyors were gathering u^) their instruments. 

Marshall, who was a kindly and just man, tried to 
explain to his friend, before the sun went down, just 
where the line was blazed. It seemed fair enough at 
the time to Mintges. Later on, when alone one day, 
he walked over the line, comparing it with the warrant, 
and it did not seem to satisfy him as much. He be- 
lieved that the surveyors had deviated a rod or two all 
along, to his disadvantage. Doubtless if such was the 
case, it had been due to their haste to get through, for 
they had a daily grind of similar cases, but ^larshall. 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 237 

he thought, should have compelled them to follow the 
parchment drafts, and not uncertain instruments. 

Nevertheless, he decided to say nothing to his friend ; 
they had always been good intimates, why should their 
relations be jeopardized for a paltry rod or two. 
Mintges confided the mistake to his wife, and later on 
to his children. It was unfortunate, but where there 
there were so few neighbors it was hardly worth a fight. 

As Mintges grew older the matter began to prey on 
his mind, to obsess him. It worried him until his head 
ached, and he could not drive it away. Marshall and 
his heirs were profiting at his expense; it should not be 
allowed to rest that way. 

The surveyors had placed a great stone at the upper 
corner of the line, at the slope of the mountain, and 
there Jacob Mintges repaired one moonlight night, 
armed with a crowbar, and reset the stone two rods 
on the alleged domain of Jacob Marshall. Mintges was 
an old man at the time, rabbinical in appearance, and 
he chuckled and ''washed his hands" as he stood and 
viewed the fruits of his labor. A wrong had been 
quietly righted ; why hadn't he done it twenty years ago ? 

It so happened that Jacob Marshall went out for 
chestnuts a week or so after Mintges' performance, 
and saw the altered position of the stone. Instead of 
hastening to his friend's house and asking him for a 
frank explanation, he, not l^eing conscious of any 
wrong-doing, moved the stone back to its original posi- 
tion, to relnike the presumptuous Mintges. Then he 



238 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

stood admiring his work, while the stroked his long 
black beard. 

A few weeks later Mintges and his sons went to the 
mountain to brush out a road on which to haul logs 
with their oxteams in the winter-time. ( )ne of the 
boys, named Lazarus, called his father's attention to 
the stone's position. It made the old man "see red." 
and he would not rest until, with the aid of his sons, it 
was again set where he felt it should rightfully be. 

All this produced a coolness, almost a feud, between 
the two families, which kept up until Jacob Mintges 
died at the age of eighty years. Jacob ]\Iarshall, friend 
of his youth and companion of his "trek" to the wil- 
derness, did not attend the obsequies. 

It was not many nights afterwards when reports 
were made on all sides that Mintges' spook was abroad, 
walking about the fields and lanes adjacent to Jacob 
Marshall's home, his arms holding aloft a great block 
of stone. Marshall saw the apparition several times, 
but shunned it as he had the living Mintges the last 
years of his life. 

What he wanted was very plain, for sometimes the 
night wind wafted the mournful words down Marshall's 
bedroom chimney (for he always kept his windows 
nailed shut) : "Where shall I put it; oh, where shall 
I put it?" 

The ghost began his hauntings in the spring, kept it 
up all summer, fall, winter, then another spring and 
summer. He had affixed himself to the family, Mar- 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 239 

shall thought, as he racked his brain to lay the trouble- 
some night prowler. 

It was during the fall of the second year that a big 
party of moonlight 'coon hunters went up the lane 
which led between the Marshall and Mintges farms, 
headed for the rocky heights of Jack's Mountain. In 
the party was Otto Gleim, the half-witted drunkard of 
Selin's Grove, little, dumpy, long-armed High German, 
high-shouldered Otto Gleim, who was left at the foot 
of the mountain to hold one of the lanterns. 

Gleim was half full on this occasion, as it was in the 
cider season, and he staggered about under the aged 
chestnut trees, while his wits revolved in his head with 
the speed of an electric fan. He felt lonesome, sick 
and uncomfortable. It was a relief to see a great, tall 
figure, with a long, black beard, approaching him, 
holding aloft a huge stone. It looked like "Uncle Jake" 
Marshall at first ; no, it wasn't — it was no one else but 
the late "Uncle Jake" Mintges, his neighbor. 

As the gaunt figure drew nearer, it began groaning 
and wailing: "Where shall I put it; oh, where shall I 
put it?" in tones as melancohly as those of the Great 
Horned Owl on a New Year's Eve. 

"Put it where it belongs," spluttered Otto Gleim, the 
drunkard, with a gleam of super-human prescience, 
and lo and behold, the ghost set the stone where it had 
been for twenty years after the surveyors had placed 
it there. Then the apparition vanished, and Gleim, in 
a matter-of-fact way, sat down on the cornerstone, 
where he waited until the 'coon hunters returned. 



240 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

Jake jMintges' ghost ceased to wander and lament, 
but instead allied itself closely with Jake Marshall's 
family as private stock banshee, warning, token or 
familiar. Whenever a disaster was due to any member 
he would show his grinning tusks, as much as to say : 
"Now, make the best of what is coming; life is short 
anyway." 

No doubt his visits of forewarning strengthened the 
nerves of the family to face trouble with a greater de- 
gree of equanimity ; in all events the poor old fellow 
meant it that way. Old and young, rich and poor, in 
cities or in the wilds, wherever the blood of Jacob 
Marshall flowed, the ghost of Mintges was in evidence 
at the climacteric moments of their lives. They were 
all used to him, and never resented his visits or tried 
in any way to lay him. 

The scene shifts to one of the last to encounter this 
strange old ghost. It is in a great city, in a high- 
ceilinged, yet gloomy room, furnished in the plush 
and mahogany of the middle eighties of the last cen- 
tury. A very dark girl, with full pouting lips and 
black eyes, half closed and sullen, yet beautiful in the 
first flush of youth withal, is seated on one of the up- 
holstered easy chairs. Standing in the bay window 
facing her is a very tall man, equally dark, his droop- 
ing black mustache and long Prince Albert coat making 
him appear at least ten years older than the twenty- 
eight which was his correct age. 

On a centre tal)le. with a top of brown onyx, on 
which were ftlso several bisque ornaments, lay an 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES ..241 

ancient violin and bow, a veritable Joseph Guarnerius'. 
It was made of a curious piece of spruce which, when 
growing in some remote forest of Northern Italy, had 
been punctured by a "Gran Pico" or large green wood- 
pecker, and the wood stained, giving a unique and pic- 
turesque touch to this specimen of the skill of the old 
master of Cremona. 

"I have determined to go home tonight," said the 
dark girl, with decision, "and nothing can stop me. 
When any of our family see the face of Jacob Mintges, 
it means disaster to some one near to us ; my mother 
and her old parents, whom I left so suddenly, may be 
grieving to death ; I will go to them tonight." 

The tall man fumbled with his long fingers among 
the tassels on the back of a chair in front of him, as if 
trying to frame up a decisive answer. "This is what I 
call base ingratitude," he faltered at length, in high, 
almost feminine tones. "Just when I have had your 
musical talent developed, turning you from a common 
fiddler to a finished artiste, and having you almost 
ready to make your stage debut as a popular juvenile, 
you leave me in the lurch, and all because you imag- 
ined you saw a ghost — iinagined, I say, for there are 
no such things." 

The dark g'irl sat perfectly still, l)iting her full red 
lips, her immoble face as if made of ivory. 

"What are you, anyway?" she finally responded; 
"nothing but what my father called a mountebank ; he 
hated them, an actor, and I owe you nothing but con- 



242 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

tempt for having brought me here to be your plaything 
while my youth and good looks last." 

Then, as she got up and started towards a door, 
the tall man darted after her. 

"I'll not let you make a fool of yourself," he hissed, 
theatrically. Catching her by the wrists, he attempted 
to detain her. 

"Sit down ; we must have this out." 

She was almost as tall as he, and very muscular, and 
the Jewish strain in her blood was hot. The pair 
struggled about the room, until the man in his anger 
seized the old violin and hit her a heavy blow over the 
head. She sank down on the floor in a limp mass, and 
the man, picking up his brown Fedora, ran out of the 
room and down the long flight of stairs and out into 
the street. The girl was not badly hurt, only stunned, 
and came to herself in about fifteen minutes. She saw 
that she was alone, and the Guarnerius was around her 
neck. 

Gathering herself up, her first thought was for the 
violin, and tying the smallest chips in her handkerchief 
she went to the inner room and began to pack a large 
portmanteau. Then she put on her hat, veil and cloak 
and, locking the apartment door and slipping the key 
in her grip, she left the house and hurried down town 
towards the railroad depot. 

It was dark when she reached there, and she quickly 
boarded a local, to wait in the suburbs until the night 
sleeping car train for Derrstown made its stop there. 
All went well, and by midnight she was boarding the 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 243 

sleeper and was soon afterwards undressed and under 
the sooty-smelling blankets in a lower berth. 

She did not know how long she had been sleeping 
when the train suddenly stopped with a jerk and she 
was awake. Looking around, she saw a face peering 
through the curtains. It was not the porter, but the 
leering, open mouth, old Jacob Mintges himself, tusks 
and all. 

Twice now in twenty- four hours he had come to her, 
for the night previous she had waked just in the gray 
half light before dawn, and had seen him standing 
grinning by her bedside. 

An inexperienced person might have screamed, but 
not so Eugenie Carlevan, the great-great-granddaughter 
of Jacob ]\Iarshall. When their eyes met, Mintges 
quickly withdrew, and the girl, wide awake, began 
thinking over the past years of her life, as the train 
again started to roll on into the night. She had always 
been fond of music and theatres. The violin given to 
her on her sixth birthday by her grandfather Marshall 
had become the evil genius of her destiny. Her father 
had died and her mother was too much of a drudge to 
control her. She had attended every circus, burlesque, 
minstrel show or dramatic performance that had come 
to the town where she had lived, since she was thirteen 
years old. 

When the young Thespian who called himself Der- 
ment Catesby had come to Swinefordstown, where she 
was visiting an aunt, with the "Lights O'London" 
Company, she had fallen violently in love with him. 



244 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

had made his acquaintance, and he, struck by her im- 
perious beauty and musical predilections, had asked 
her to go away with him. 

She had joined him a few days later in Sunl)ury, 
bringing her precious violin, and traveled with him to 
the great city. There the actor soon signed up to play 
in repertoire at a stock company. She liked him well 
enough, despite his vanity and selfishness, lor he was 
very handsome. It was before the days when actors 
were clean-shaven like every servant, and looked much 
like other people. However much she had ioved him, 
Jacob Mintges' ghost had revealed a more pressing 
duty twice, and she was on her way home. 

Soon she fell asleep again, and did not wake until 
the porter's face appeared to notify her that the train 
was leaving Sunbury. Her mother lived with her aged 
parents out near Hartley Hall, among the high moun- 
tains ; it would be a relief to see those lofty peaks and 
wide expanse of vision once more, after the cramped 
outlook of the city. How peculiarly sweet the air 
seemed, with the sun coming up behind the fringe of 
old yellow pines and oaks along the river ! What re- 
freshing zephyrs were wafted from those newly- 
ploughed fields. The bluebirds and robins were sing- 
ing in the maple trees about the station. Qn a side- 
track stood the little wood-burner engine, with its 
bulbous stack, puffing black smoke, read^' to pull its 
train of tiny cars out to the wonderful, wild mountain 
country, the land of Lick Run Gap, the Lost Valley, 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 245 

the High Head, Big Buffalo, Winklebleck and 
Shreiner ! 

How well she remembered the first time she had seen 
that wood-burner, as a little tot, going on a visit with 
her father and mother. It was in the golden hour, and 
deep purple shadows fell from the station roof athwart 
the golden light on the platform ! 

All these thoughts were crowding through her head 
until the bell on the little engine reminded her that the 
L. & T. train was soon to depart. 

She reached home in time for dinner, was received 
with no enthusiasm, for her mother and grandparents 
were true mountaineers, and their swarthy faces 
masked their feelings, yet she was made to feel per- 
fectly welcome. 

Nobody had died, no one was sick, the house hadn't 
burned down, evidently the trials foretold by Jake 
Mintges were yet to come. 

That afternoon she showed the broken violin to her 
grandfather, who took it to his workbench in an out- 
house to repair it, undaunted by the seeming endlessness 
of the reconstruction. 

Eugenie seemed perfectly contented to be at home. 
She had had enough of the hisarre, and reveled again 
in the humdrum. Five or six days after her return 
the weekly county paper appeared at the house, with 
its boiler plate front page and patent insides. Some 
instinct mad her open the wrapper as it lay on the 
kitchen table. On the front page she saw the likeness 



246 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

of a familiar face, the well-known full eyes, oval 
cheeks, rounded chin and drooping mustache, Derment 
Catesby. Then the headlines caught her eyes, "Hand- 
some Actor Shot to Death by Insanely Jealous Hus- 
band at Stage Door." Then she glanced at the date and 
the hour. It was the night that she had taken the train 
— the very moment, perhaps, that Jacob Mintges' grin- 
ning face had looked through the curtains of her berth. 
Yes, the murderer had waited a long time, as the victim 
had tarried in the green-room. 

Eugenie sucked her full lips a moment, then looked 
hard at the picture and the whole article again. Then 
she turned to her mother and grandparents, who were 
seated about the stove. 

"Say, folks," she said, coldly., "'there's the fine gent 
I went away with from Swinesfordstown. I got out 
in time, the very night he was murdered." 

The mother and the old people half rose in their 
chairs to look at the wood cut. 

"How did you know he was playing you false?" said 
the old grandfather. 

"How did I know, gran'pap?" she replied. "Why, 
the night before, Jake Mintges came to me, and I knew 
something was due to go wrong, and home was the 
place for little me. You see I missed it all by a stone's 
throw." 

"You're right, 'Genie'," said the old mountaineer. 
"Mintges never comes to us unless he means business." 



XVIII. 

The Turning of the Belt 

THERE are not many memories of Ole Bull in the 
vicinity of the ruins of his castle today. Fifteen 
years ago, before the timber was all gone, there 
were quite a few old people who were living in the 
Black Forest at the time of his colonization venture, 
who remembered him well, also a couple of his original 
colonists, Andriesen and Oleson, but these are no more. 
One has to go to Renovo or to Austin or Germania to 
find any reminiscences now, and those have suffered 
through passing from "hand to mouth" and are scat- 
tered and fragmentary. They used to say that the 
great violinist was, like his descendants, a believer in 
spiritualism, and on the first snowy night that he occu- 
pied his unfinished mansion, chancing to look out he 
saw what seemed to him a tall, white figure standing 
by the ramparts. 

Fearing that it was some skcid come to warn him of 
impending disaster to his beloved colony, he rushed out 
hatless, only to find that it Was an old hemlock stab, 
snow encrusted. 

Disaster did come, but as far as local tradition goes 
Ole Bull had no warning of it. The hemlock stab 
which so disturbed him has been gone these many years, 
but a smaller one, when encased in snow, has frightened 
many a superstitious wayfarer along the Kettle Creek 

247 



248 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

road, and gone on feeling that he had seen "the ghost 
of Ole Bull." 

But unaccountable and worthy of investigation are 
the weird strains, of music heard on wild, stormy nights, 
which seem to emanate from the castle. Belated 
hunters coming down the deep gorge of Ole Bull Run, 
back of the castle, or travelers along the main highway 
from Oleona to Cross Forks, have heard it and refused 
to be convinced that there is not a musician hidden 
away somewhere among the crumbling ruins. The 
"oldest inhabitants," sturdy race of trappers, who ante- 
dated Ole Bull's colonists, declare that the ghostly mu- 
sician was playing just the same in the great virtuoso's 
time, and that it is the ghost of a French fifer, am- 
bushed and killed by Indians when his battalion was 
marching along the "Boone Road" from Fort Le Boeuf 
to the memorable and ill-starred attack on Fort Augusta 
at Sunbury in 1757. 

At the mention of "Boone Road" another question is 
opened, as there is no historic record of such a military 
highway between Lake Erie and the West Branch of- 
the Susquehanna River. The afore-mentioned very 
old people used to say that the road was still visible 
to them in certain places ; that there could be no doubt 
of its existence and former utilization. 

Daniel Boone, if he be the pioneer of that name who 
first "blazed it out," was a very young man during the 
"French and Indian War," and his presence in that 
part of the country is a mooted question. Perhaps it 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 249 

was another "Hoone," and a Norseman, for many 
persons named "Bonde" or "Boon" were among the 
first Swedish settlers on the Lanape-Wihittuck, or Del- 
aware River, miconsciously pioneering for their famous 
eousin-German, Ole Borneman Bull. 

In all events, the French lifer was shot and grievous- 
ly wounded, and his comrades, in the rout which en- 
sued, were forced to leave him behind. After refresh- 
ing himself at the cold spring, which nearly a century 
later Ole Bull named "Lyso" — the water of light — he 
crawled up on the hill, on which the castle was after- 
wards partly erected, to reconnoitre the country, but 
dropping from exhaustion and loss of blood, soon died. 
The wolves carried away his physical remains, but his 
spirit rested on the high knoll, to startle Ole Bull and 
many others, with the strains of his weird, unearthly 
music. 

It seems a pity that these old legends are passing 
with the lives of the aged people, but the coming of Ira 
Keeney, the grizzled Civil War veteran, as caretaker 
for the handsome Armstrong-Quigley hunting lodge, 
on the site of one of the former proposed fogdericr 
Walhalla, has awakened anew the world of romance, of 
dashing exploits in the war under Sheridan and Rose- 
crans, of lumbering days, wolves, panthers and wild 
pigeons, all of which memories the venerable soldier 
loves to recount. 

Yet can these be compared with the legend that Ole 
Bull, seeing a Bald Eagle rise from its nest on the top 
of a tall oak near the banks of Freeman's Run, named 



250 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

the village he planned to locate there Odin, after the 
supreme diety of the Scandinavian mythology, who 
took the form of an eagle on one period of his develop- 
ment. His other settlements or hcrods he called Wal- 
halla, Oleona and New Bergen. Planned at first by 
the French to be a purely military route for mgress to 
the West Branch country, but owing to the repulse at 
Fort Augusta, very infrequently traversed by thens, if 
at all, it became principally an overland "short cut" for 
trappers, traders, travelers and settlers, all of whom 
knew its location well. 

Who could have laid out such an intricate road over 
high mountains and through deep valleys, unless a mili- 
tary force, is hard to imagine, even if for some strange 
reason it was never written into "history." 

After the Revolutionary War there was naturally an 
unsettled state of affairs, and many farmers and adven- 
turers turned their thought to the country west of the 
Allegheny Mountains and River, as the land of oppor- 
tunity, consequently there was much desultory travel 
over the Boone Road. Unemployment prevailed every- 
where, and hordes of penniless ex-soldiers, turned 
adrift by their victorious new nation, traveled back- 
wards and forwards along all the known highways and 
trails. ])icking up a day's work as best they could, their 
precarious mode of living giving them the name of 
"cider tramps." A few more reckless and blood thirsty 
than their fellows, claimed that the country which they 
had freed owed them a living; if there was no work 
and no pensions, and they could not get it by hook 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 251 

they would take it by crook. In other words, certain 
ex-service men became strong-arm men, road agents, 
or highwaymen, whichever name seems most suitable. 

The Boone Road, in a remote wilderness of gloomy, 
untrodden forests, made an ideal haunt for footpads, 
and when not robbing travelers, they took their toll 
from the wild game, elks, deer, bears, grouse and wild 
pigeons which infested the region. Law and order had 
not penetrated into such forgotten jand forbidding 
realms, and obscure victims could report outrages and 
protest to a deaf and dumb government. How long it 
was before these robbers were curbed is hard to say. 

One story which the backwoods people about Ham- 
esley's Fork used to tell dates back to five years after 
the close of the Revolution, about 1788. Jenkin Doane, 
possibly a member of the same family that produced the 
Doane outlaws in the Welsh Mountains, was one of the 
notorious characters along the Boone Road. Like oth- 
ers, he was an ex-soldier, a hero of Brandywine and 
Paoli, but his plight was worse, for just before peace 
was declared, when a premature rumor to that elTect 
had reached his company, lying at Fort Washington, 
he had assaulted and beaten up an aristocratic and 
brutal officer who was the terror of the line. For this 
he had been sentenced to death, but later his sentence 
was commuted, and finally, because there were no sat- 
isfactory jails for military prisoners, he was quietly re- 
leased, sans h. d. and the ability to make a livelihood. 

He finally became a wagoner and hired out with a 
party of emigrants going to Lake Erie, who traveled 



252 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

over the Boone Road. He saw them safely to their 
destination, but on his return journey tarried in the 
mountains, hunting and fishing, until his supplies were 
gone, when he turned "road agent." He evidently had 
a low grade of morals at that time, for he robbed old 
as well as young, women as readily as men. He was 
fairly successful, considering the comparative lightness 
of travel and the poor class of victims financially. 

In an up-and-down country, where feed and shelter 
were scarce, he kept no horse, but traveled afoot. He 
had no oi)portunity to test his heels, as he never ran 
away, all his attacks being followed by speedy capitu- 
lation. If a trained force of bailiffs had been sent out 
to apprehend him, doubtless he could have been caught, 
as he had his favorite retreats, where he lingered, 
waiting for his prey. 

There were not many such places in the depths of 
the seemingly endless forests of giant and gloomy 
Hemlocks and pines, places where the sun could shine 
and the air radiated dryness and warmth. One of his 
best-liked haunts was known as the Indian Garden, 
situated in an open glade among the mountains which 
divide the country of Kettle Creek from that of Drury's 
Run. 

"Art." Vallon, one of the oldest hunters on Kettle 
Creek, who died recently, once described the spot as 
follows : "More than sixty years ago my father on a 
hunting trip showed me a clearing of perhaps half an 
acre, which he told me was called 'The Indian Garden.' 
f visited it many times afterwards on my trapping ex- 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 253 

cursions. It impressed me as very unusual, being en- 
tirely free from undergrowth, except the furze grass 
one sees on poor, worked-out land. 

It was a perfect square of about half an acre, and 
was surrounded by the deep, primeval forest. Tnere 
was a fine spring not very far away." 

It was there that Jenkin Doane and two other reckless 
characters who had served with Simon Girty and acted 
as his henchmen lolled for hours in the sun, waiting for 
victims. It was there that he usually maintained his 
"camp fire" and at night slept on the ground in a sleep- 
ing bag of buffalo hides. 

One night in the late winter, when there were still 
patches of snow on the ground, Doane dreamed very 
vividly of a girl whom he had never seen. He could 
hardly realize he had been dreaming when he awoke 
and sat up looking about him, to where his vision wms 
cut off by the interminable "aisles of the forest." He 
seemed to be married to her, at least they were together, 
and he had the pleasure of saving her life from drown- 
ing in a deep torrent where she had gone, probably to 
bathe. 

He had never seen a person of such unusual beauty. 
Her hair was dark and inclined to curl, complexion 
hectic, her eyes hazel, but the chief charm lay in the line 
of her nose and upper lip. The nose was slightly 
turned up at the end, adding, with the curve of her 
upper lip, a piquancy to an expression of exceptional 
loveliness. 

All the day he kept wishing that this charming young 



254 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

woman might materialize into his Hfe; he could not 
bring himself to believe but that such a realistic vision 
must have a living counterpart. 

It was during the morning of the second day, when 
he had about given up hope, that he saw coming to- 
wards him, down a steep pitch in the Boone Road — it 
is part of the Standard Oil Pipe Line now — a young 
woman on horseback, wearing a red velvet hat and a 
brown cloak. She was mounted on a flea-bitten white 
horse of uncertain age and gait. Close behind her rode 
two elderly Indians, also indifferently mounted, who 
seemed to be her bodyguard, and between them they 
were leading a heavily-laden pack-horse. 

He quickly turned his belt, an Indian signal of 
great antiquity, which indicated to his companions that 
they would make an attack. 

Just as the white horse touched fairly level ground 
he commenced to stumble and run sideways, having 
stepped on a rusty caltrop or "crow's foot" which the 
outlaws had strewn across the trail at that point for 
that very purpose. Seeing the animal's plight, the 
young equestrienne quickly stopped him and dis- 
mounted. She had been riding astride, and Doane 
noticed the brown woolen stockings which covered her 
shapely legs, her ankle-boots of good make, as she 
rolled off the horse's back. 

As she stood before her quivering steed, patting his 
shoulder, Doane and his companions drew near, cover- 
ing the three with their army muskets. It was then to 
his infinite surprise he noticed that the girl in brown. 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 255 

with the red hat, was the heroine of his dream, though 
in the vision she had been attired in black, but the 
gown was half off her shoulders and back when he 
drew her out of the water. 

It would have been hard to tell who was most sur- 
prised, Doane or the girl. Much as he admired her 
loveliness, there had been the turning of the belt, which 
meant there could be no change of purpose; his com- 
rades were already eyeing the well-filled packsaddles. 

The frightened Indians had dismounted, being 
watched by one of the outlaws, while Doane politely 
yet firmly demanded the whereabouts of her money. 
Lifting her cloak and turning her belt, she disclosed 
two long deerskin pouches, heavy with gold. Un- 
buckling them, she handed them to Doane. while tears 
began to stream down her cheeks. 

"You may take it, sir," she sobbed, "but you are 
ruining my chances in life. I am partly Indian, Brant's 
daughter, grand-daughter of the old Brant, and my 
father had arranged a marriage for me with a young 
officer whom I met during the war, and I love him 
dearly. Though I told him of my love, he would not 
marry me without a dowry of $3,000, and it took my 
father five long years to gather it together. I would 
not care if I did not love him so much. I was on my 
way to his home at the forks of Susquehanna, and now 
you have destroyed all my hopes." 

The brigand's steely heart was for a moment 
touched, "l^.rant's daughter," he said, "you Indian 
people know the turning of the 1)elt. wbich means that 



256 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

what is decided on at that moment must l)e carried out; 
before I saw who you were I resolved to rob you. It 
must be done, for I have two partners who will demand 
their shares." 

"You said 'before you knew who I was,' " broke in 
the girl, her tearful, piquaint face filled with curiosity. 
"You never saw )iic before." 

"Oh, yes, I did," replied Doane. "in a dream a couple 
of nights ago." 

"Then let me go my way if I have been introduced 
to the spiritual side of your nature," she said, as a final 
appeal. 

"I am afraid not," he answered, as his comrades 
started to open one of the pouches. Then he paused, 
saying: "I will not take all. I'd not take anything from 
you except that I have these partners. I will retain 
half for them, and let you go your wa}' with the rest. 
Your good looks — for you are truly the prettiest thing 
I ever laid eyes on— will outweigh with your lover a 
paltry fifteen hundred dollars in gold." 

"You do not know him;. it never will," cried the girl, 
weeping afresh. "He does not love me; he only wants 
the gold. I am the one that loves, and am lost and dis- 
carded without the dowry." 

Aleanwhile one of the outlaws had drawn the caltrop 
from the horse's frog, and having smeared it with 
bear's grease, the animal was walking about in a fairly 
comfortable manner. 

The girl stood looking at Doane. He was young, 
strong, and had a fairly decent face. How could he 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 257 

be so cruel? Then she looked at his partners, low- 
browed wretches, who were already muttering at the 
delay, and she realized there was no hope. Doane gave 
up his share, and tossed the other of the bags of gold 
to his "pals," then ordered the girl and her escort to 
proceed. He said that he would accompany her to the 
river, to where the danger of meeting other highway- 
men would be passed. The girl traveled on foot the 
entire distance, to ease her horse over the rough, uneven 
trail, walking side by side with the highwayman. 

They parted with civility, and on Doane's side with 
deep regret, for the dream had inflamed his soul, and 
the reality was so startlingly lovely that he was deeply 
smitten. Before he had reached the river he wished 
that he had shot his grasping companions, rather than 
endanger this beautiful creature's future happiness. 

"That was an unlucky turning of the belt," he said to 
himself, as he retraced his steps towards the Indian 
Garden. 

Brant's daughter rode with a heavy heart the balance 
of the journey, for she knew her lover's nature. The 
Indian bodyguards were equally downcast, for they had 
sworn to deliver her safe and sound at the forks of the 
Susquehanna. 

When she reached the handsome colonial gray stone 
house, on a headland overlooking the "meeting of the 
waters," her lover, a handsome upstanding youth, with 
a sports suit made of his old officer's bufif uniform, and 
surrounded by a pack of his hunting dogs, came out to 
greet her. His manner was not very cordial. With 



258 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

penetrating eyes he saw that she was disturbed over 
something, so he quickly asked if she suffered from 
fatigue after the long overland journey. 

"No, Major," she replied, "I am not at all tired in 
body, but I am in heart. I cannot postpone the evil 
moment. On the Boone Road we were stopped by three 
highwaymen, armed, who took from me half of my 
dowry." 

The Alajor's handsome countenance darkened. "Why 
did you not tell them you needed it to get married?" he 
blurted out angrily. "A pretty wench like you could 
have honey-foogled them to keep it." 

"I did tell them," replied the girl, confidently, "and 
for that reason the chief of the band, a very pretty man, 
let me keep the one-half, but he had to retain the rest 
for his companions." 

"What was the matter with your dullard bodyguards, 
standing about like lunkheads? \Vhy didn't they 
shoot?" 

"I think I came off well," she said, hanging her pretty 
head, her cheeks all crimson flush. She was sitting on 
the horse, her feet dangling out of the stirrups, her 
skirts turned up revealing those shapely legs, and he 
had not asked her to dismount. 

The Major drew nearer, with an angry gesture. "I 
have a mind to smack your face good and hard for your 
folly," he stormed. "What do you think I have been 
waiting for. a paltry fifteen hundred dollars?" 

Brant's daughter turned her belt and handed him the 
pouch of gold, which he threw down testily. It was 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 259 

quickly picked up by one of his German redemptioner 
servants, who carried it into the house. 

"Aren't you going to ask me to come in?" pleaded 
the now humiliated love-sick girl. "You can slap me 
all you want. Punish me any way you will," ottering 
him her stiff riding crop, "only don't cast me off" 

"Come down if you wish; I don't care," he mumbled 
in reply. "I wouldn't exert myself enough to whip you, 
but your hide ought to be tanned for your stupidity." 

Cut to the heart, yet still loving abjectly, she slid off 
the horse and meekly followed the imperious Major 
into the mansion. During the balance of the. afternoon, 
and at supper, and until she begged to be allowed to 
retire, she was reviled and humbled in the presence of 
his redemptioners. He declared that no one man in a 
thousand, in his station of life, would consider marriage 
with a person of Indian blood ; that it was worth twice 
three thousand dollars, the figui-e he had originally 
named. Nevertheless, he had carefully put the money 
bag in his strong box, even though saying nothing 
about setting a date for a marriage. 

She was shown into an unfinished room. There was 
no bed, only a few chairs, and two big walnut chests. 
Tearful and nervously unstrung, she took oft' her shoes 
and, wrapping herself in her cloak, lay down on the 
cold wooden floor. She could have called for blankets, 
and doubtless gotten them, but her pride had rebelled 
and she resolved to make the best of conditions. She 
could not sleep, and her mind was tortured with her 
love for the Major, anger at his ungrateful contluct, 



260 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

and an ever-recurring vision of the highwayman on 
the Boone Road. She heard the great Irish clock in 
the hall below strike every hour until one. 

Suddenly she got up, her face brightened with a new 
resolve. Tying her shoes together, she threw them 
them across her shoulder and tiptoed to the door, which 
she opened softl}', and went downstairs. Her Indian 
bodyguards were sleeping on the stone floor in the 
vestibule, wrapped in their blankets. 

"Exundos," she whispered in the ear of the oldest, 
"get me out of this; I am going to go away." 

The trusty redskin, who always slept with one eye 
open, nudged his comrade, Firequill, and made their 
way to the door. It was locked and chained, and the 
key probably under the Major's pillow. 

Exundos was determined to redeem his record. He 
rushed upstairs to where a portly German was sleeping 
in the officer's antechamber. He knocked the valet 
senseless with the butt of his horse pistol. Then he 
sprang like a panther over the prostrate body into the 
Major's apartment. In a moment he had gagged him 
with the caltrop extracted from the horse's foot, then 
bound him hand and foot. 

The key was under the- pillow. In five minutes the 
fugitives were on the front lawn, surrounded by the 
Major's pack of yelping, snarling hounds. Getting by 
them as best they could, the trio made for the bluffs, 
found a dugout in which they crossed the river, and 
were soon in the shelter of the friendly mountains. 

In the morning the Major's other servants who slept 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 261 

in quarters near the stables, found the half-dazed l)ody- 
guard with a bloody head, and their gagged and help- 
less master. Once released, the Major decided not to 
send a posse after the runaways ; he was heavily in 
debt, and needed that pouch of fifteen hundred dollars 
in gold. 

Brant's daughter, after her fortuitous escape, was 
not completely happy. She had longed for the Major 
for five years, and had almost gotten him as the result 
of severe privations. It was pretty hard to lose him 
now. She was going home defeated, to die unwed. 
Her feelings became desperate when she reached the 
Boone Road, with all its haunting memories. 

As she clambered up the steep grades, and the Indian 
Garden came into view, she reached down and turned 
her belt, the symbol of resolution. No one was about 
as she passed the garden, which made her heart sink 
with loneliness for some strong man's love. 

When Kettle Creek was reached and crossed near 
the Cold Spring, she decided to rest awhile. After a 
meal, which she barely tasted, she told the Indians that 
she was going for a little walk in the woods. 

"I am safe now," she said, bitterly; "I have no gold." 

Past the Cold Spring she went, on and on up the 
wild, narrow gorge of what is now called Ole Bull Run. 
where a dark and dismal hemlock forest of colossal pro- 
portions bent over the torrent, keeping out the light of 
day. 

While she was absent, who should appear at the 
Cold Spring but Doane, with his colleagues in crime. 



262 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

"So he took her after all, with only half the money," 
he said, almost regretfully, to the Indians. 

"I don't know," replied one of the bodyguard. "He 
was very ugly when he heard it. wanted to slap her, 
and she ran away in the night, leaving horses, saddle- 
bags and gold. Oh, she felt terril)ly. for she truly loved 
the monster." 

"Where is she now ?" said Doane. in surprised tones. 

The Indian pointed up the dark gorge of the run. 
That moment the outlaw thought of his dream, of his 
rescuing her from an angry torrent. Motioning to her 
guards to follow, he made haste along the edges of the 
stream, slipping often on the moss-grown rocks. Half 
wav to the top of the gigantic mountain, he heard the 
roar of a cascade. There was a great, dark, seething 
pool beneath. Just as Doane came in sight of this he 
beheld, to his horror, Brant's daughter, hatless and 
cloakless, plunging in. It was like a Dryad's immola- 
tion ! 

With superhuman efifort he reached the brink and 
sprang after her. He caught her, as she rose the first 
time, by her profuse brown hair, but as he lifted her 
ashore a snag or branch tore her shirtwaist, so that her 
shoulder and back were almost completely bare, just 
as in the dream. Aided by the faithful Indians, he laid 
her tenderly among the moss and ferns, and poured 
some rum from a bufifalo horn flask down her throat. 
She revived and opened her pretty hazel eyes quizzi- 
cally. 

"Am I at the Indian Garden ?" she said. 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 263 

"You are with the one who turned his Ijelt there," 
answered Doane; "only this time I don't want anything 
for my comrades. I onl_\- want you for myself." 

"That is why I came hack — to give myself to you," 
said Brant's daughter, having now fully recovered the 
power of speech. "When I came back to the Garden 
and you were not there, 1 turned my belt." 

"It is well that you did," said Doane. "for that last 
resolve has brought us together. I should have known 
from the beginning my destiny was revealed in that 
dream." 

"Will you come with me, then, to Tonawanda?" said 
the girl. 

"Of course I will, anywhere with you, and never 
follow the road again, or anything not strictly honora- 
ble. Wrongdoing, I see now, is caused by the prepon- 
derance of the events of life going against us. Where 
things come our way, and there is joy, one can never 
aspire to ill. Wrong is the continued disappointment. 
I could never molest a soul after I saw you, and have 
lived by hunting ever since. I made my partners return 
the purse of gold ; it shall go to your father to buy a 
farm." 

Brant's daughter now motioned to him that she felt 
like sitting up, and he propped her back against an old 
cork pine, kissing her pretty plump cheeks and shoul- 
ders manv times as he did so. "And that scoundrel 



264 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 



would have smacked you," he thought, boihng inwardly. 
Then taking her cold hands in his, he said : 

"Out of evil comes good. I do not regret this one 
robbery, for if I had not taken that gold for my com- 
rades, some one would have robbed me of you!" 







SMWANA 



XIX. 

Riding His Pony 

WHEN Rev. James ^^lartin visited the celebrated 
Penn's Cave, in the Spring of 1T95, it was re- 
lated that he found a small group of Indians 
encamped there. That evening, around the campfire, 
one of the redskins related a legend of one of the curi- 
osities of the watery cave, the flambuoyant "Indian 
Riding Pony" mural-piece which decorates one of the 
walls. 

Spirited as a Remington, it bursts upon the view, 
creates a lasting impression, then vanishes as the power 
skiff, the "Nita-nee," draws nearer. 

According to the old Indians, there lived not far 
from where the Karoondinha emerges from the cavern 
a body of aborigines of the Susquehannock tribe who 
made this delightful lowland their permanent al)ode. 
While most of their cabins were huddled near together 
on the upper reaches of the stream, there were strag- 
gling huts clear to the Beaver Dams. The finding of 
arrow points, beads and pottery along the creek amply 
attests to this. 

Among the clan was a maiden named Quetajaku. not 
good to look upon, but in no way ugly or deformed. 
In her youth she was light-hearted and sociable, with a 
gentle disposition. Yet for some reason she was not 
favored by the young bucks. All her contemporaries 
found lovers and husbands, but poor Quetajaku was 

265 



266 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

left severely alone. She knew that she was not beauti- 
ful, though she was of good size; she was equally cer- 
tain that she was not a physical monster. She could 
not understand why she could find no lover, why she 
was singled out to be a "chauchschisis," or old maid. 
It hurt her pride as a young girl, it broke her heart 
completely when she was older. 

Gradually she withdrew from the society of her 
tribal friends, Iniilding herself a lodge-house on the 
hill, in what is now the cave orchard. There she led a 
very introspective life, grieving over the love that might 
have been. To console herself she imagined that some 
day a handsome warrior would appear, seek her out, 
load her with gifts, overwhelm her with love and carry 
her away to some distant region in triumph. He 
would be handsomer and braver than any youth in the 
whole country of the Karoondinha. She would l)e the 
most envied of women when he came. 

This poor little fancy saved her from going stark 
mad ; it remedied the horror of her lonely lot. Every 
time the night wind stirred the rude hempen curtain 
which hung before the door of her cabin, she would 
picture it was the chivalrous stranger knight come to 
claim her. When it was cold she drew the folds of her 
buffalo robe tighter about her as if it was his arms. 

As time went on she grew happy in her secret lover, 
whom no other woman's flame could cfjual, whom no 
one could steal away. She was ever imagining him 
saying to her that her looks exactly suited him, that 
she was his ideal. 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 267 

But like the seeker after Eklorado. years passed, 
and Quetajaku did not come nearer to her spirit lover. 
But her soul kept up the conceit ; every night when she 
curled herself up to sleep he was the vastness of the 
night. 

On one occasion an Indian artist named Naganit, an 
undersized old wanderer appeared at the lonely 
woman's home. For a living he decorated pottery, 
shells and l)ones, sometimes even painted war pictures 
on rocks. Quetajaku was so kind to him that he built 
himself a lean-to on the slope of the hill, intending to 
spend the winter. 

On the long winter evenings the old woman con- 
fided to the wanderer the story of her unhappy life, 
of her inward consolation. She said that she had longed 
to meet an artist who could carry out a certain part of 
her dream which had a right to come true. 

When she died she had arranged to be buried in a 
fissure of rocks which ran horizontally into one of the 
walls of the "watery" cave. On the opposite wall she 
would like painted in the most brilliant colors a por- 
trait of a handsome young warrior, with arms out- 
stretched, coming towards her. 

Naganit said that he understood what she meant 
exactly, but suggested that the youth be mounted on a 
pony, a beast which was coming into use as a mount 
for warriors, of which he had lately seen a number in 
his travels on the A'irginia coast, near Chincoteague, 

This idea was pleasing to Quetajaku, who author- 
ized the stranger to begin work at once. She had saved 



268 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

up a little property of various kinds; she promised to 
bestow all of this on Naganit, except what would be 
necessary to bury her, if the picture proved satis- 
factory. 

The artist rigged up a dog-raft with a scaffold on 
it, and this he poled into the place where the fissure 
was located, the woman accompanying him the first 
time, so there would be no mistake. All winter long 
by torchlight, he labored away. He used only one 
color, an intensive brick-red made from mixing sumac 
berries, the pollen of the Turk's Cap Lily, a small root 
and the bark of a tree, as being more permanent than 
that made from ochers and other ores of stained earth. 

Marvelous and vital was the result of this early im- 
pressionist; the painting had all the action of life. The 
superb youth in war dress, with arms outstretched, on 
the agile war pony, rushing towards the foreground, 
almost in the act of leaping from the rocky panel into 
Jife, across the waters of the cave to the arms of his 
beloved. 

It would make old Quetajaku happy to see it, she 
who had never known love or beauty. The youth in 
the mural typified what Naganit would have been him- 
self were he the chosen, and what the "bachelor maid" 
would have possessed had nature favored her. It 
was the ideal for two disappointed souls. 

Breathlessly the old artist ferried Quetajaku to the 
scene of his endeavors. When they reached the 
proper spot he held aloft his quavering torch. Que- 
tajaku, in order to see more clearly, held her two hands 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 269 

above her eyes. She gave a Httle cry of exclamation, 
then turned and looked at Naganit intently. Then she 
dropped her eyes, beginning to cry to herself, a rare 
thing for an Indian to do ! 

The artist looked at her fine face, down which the 
tears were streaming, and asked her the cause of her 
grief — was the picture such a terrible disappointment? 

The woman drew herself together, replying that it 
was grander than she had anticipated, but the face of 
Niganit's, and, strangely enough, the face she had 
dreamed of all her life. 

"But I am not the heroic youth you pictured", said 
the artist, sadly. "I am sixty years old, stoop-shoul- 
dered, and one leg is shorter than the other." 

"But that is how you would look on your war pony; 
it is your face, shoulders and arms. You are the pic- 
ture that I always hoped would come true." 

Niganit looked at the Indian woman. She was not 
hideous; there was even a dignity to her large, plain 
features, her great, gaunt form. 

"1 have never received such praise as yours. I 
always vowed I would love the woman who really un- 
derstood me and my art. I am yours. Let us think 
no more of funeral decorations, but go to the east, 
to the land of war ponies, and ride to endless joy 
together." 



270 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 



Ouetajaku, overcome by the majesty of his words, 
leaned against his massive shoulder. In that way he 
poled his dog-raft against the current to the entrance 
of the cave. There was a glory in the reflection from 
the setting sun over against the east ;, night would not 
close in for an hour or two. And towards the dark- 
ening east that night two happy traxelers could be 
seen wending their wav. 




Q C) : :■ o :.;■ : ■; G-.e> ^•^> g> ■: . a ■: / co . ■: .^ w (?i :• } f. 



XX. 

The Little Postmistress 

IT WAS long past dark when ^Mifflin Sargeant, of 
the Snow Shoe Land Company, came within sight 
of the welcoming lights of Stover's. For fourteen 
miles, through the foothills on the Narrows, he had not 
seen a sign of human habitation, except one deserted 
hunter's cabin at Yankee Gap. There was an air of 
cheerfulness and life about the building he had arrived 
at. Several doors opened simultaneously at the signal 
of his approach, given by a faithfvil watchdog, throw- 
ing the rich glow of the fat-lamps and tallow candles 
across the road. 

The structure, which was very long and two stories 
high, housed under its accommodating roofs a tavern, 
a boarding house, a farmstead, a lumber camp, a general 
store, and a post office. It was the last outpost of 
civilization in the east end of Brush Valley; beyond 
were mountains and wilderness almost to Youngmans- 
town. Tom Tunis had not yet erected the substantial 
structure on the verge of the forest later known as 
"The Forest House." 

A dark-complexioned lad, who later proved to be 
Reuben Stover, the son of the landlord, took the horse 
by the bridle, assisting the young stranger to dismount. 
He also helped him to unstrap his saddle-bags, carrying 
them into the house. Sargeant noticed, as he passed 

271 



272 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

across the porch, that the walls were closely hung with 
stags' horns, which showed the prevalence of these 
noble animals in the neighborhood. 

Old Daddy and Mammy Stover, who ran the quaint 
caravansery, quickly made the visitor feel at home. It 
was after the regular supper-time, but a fresh repast 
of bear's meat and corn bread was cheerfully prepared 
in the huge stone chimney. 

The young man explained to his hosts that he had 
ridden that day from New Berlin ; he had come from 
Philadelphia to Harrisburg by train, to Liverpool by 
packet boat, at which last named place his horse had 
been sent on to meet him. He added that he was on his 
way into the Alleghenies, where he had recently pur- 
chased an interest in the Snow Shoe development. 

After supper he strolled along the porch to the far 
end, to the post office, thinking he would send a letter 
home. A mail had been brought in from Rel)ersburg 
during the afternoon, consequently the post office, and 
not the tavern stand, was the attraction of the crowd 
this night. 

The narrow room was poorly lighted by fat-lamps, 
which cast great, fitful shadows, making grotesques 
out of the oddly-costumed, bearded wolf hunters pres- 
ent, who were the principal inhabitants of the surround- 
ing ridges. A few women, hooded and shawled, were 
noticeable in the throng. In a far corner, leaning 
against the water bench, was young Reuben, the host- 
ler, tuning up his wheezy fiddle. As many persons as 
possible hung over the rude counter, across which the 




SKTH NKI.SON, I K , AI TKK A <iO<)l> DAYS SI'OKT 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 273 

mail was being delivered, and where many letters were 
written in reply. Above this counter were suspended 
three fat-lamps, attached to grooved poles, which, by 
cleverly-devised pulleys, could be lifted to any height 
desired. 

The young Philadelphian edged his way through the 
good-humored concourse to ask permission to use the 
ink ; he had brought his favorite quill pen and the paper 
with him. This l)rought him face to face, across the 
counter, with the postmistress. He had not been able 
to see her before, as her trim little figure had been 
wholly obscured by the ponderous forms that lined the 
counter. 

Instantly he was charmed by her appearance — it was 
unusual — by her look of neatness and alertness. Their 
eyes met — it was almost with a smile of mutual recog- 
nition. When he asked her if he could borrow the ink, 
which was kept in a large earthen pot of famous Sugar 
\'alley make, she smiled on him again, and he absorbed 
the charm of her personality anew. 

Though she was below the middle height, her figure 
was so lithe and erect that it fully compensated for the 
lack of inches. She wore a blue homespun dress, with 
a neat checked apron over it. the material for which 
constituted a luxury, and must have come all the way 
from Youngmanstown or Sunbury. Her profuse 
masses of soft, wavy, light brown hair, on which the 
hanging lamps above brought out a glint of gold, was 
worn low on her head. Her deepset eyes were a trans- 
parent blue, her features well developed, and when she 



274 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

turned her face in profile, the high arch of the nose 
showed at once mental stahility and energy. Her com- 
plexion was pink and white. There seemed to be always 
that kindly smile playing al^oiit the eyes and lips. 

When she pushed the heavy inkwell towards him he 
noticed that her hands were very white, the fingers 
tapering; they were the hands of innate refinement. 

Almost imperceptil)ly the young man found himself 
in conversation wath the little postmistress. Doubtless 
she was interested to meet an attractive stranger, one 
from such a distant city as Philadelphia. While they 
talked, the letter was gradually written, sealed, weighed 
and paid for — it was before the days of postage stamps, 
and the postmistress politely waited on her customers. 

He had told her his name — Miftiin Sargeant — and she 
had given him hers — Caroline Hager — and that she was 
eighteen years of age. He had told her about his pros- 
pective trip into the wilds of Centre County, of the 
fierce beasts which he had heard still al)ounded there. 
The girl informed him that he would not have to go 
farther west to meet wild animals ; that wolf hides by 
the dozen were brought to Stover's each winter, where 
they were traded in; that old Stover, a justice of the 
peace, attested to the boimty warrants — in fact, the 
wolves howled from the hill across the road on cold 
nights when the dogs were particularly restless. 

Her father was a wolf hunter, and would never allow 
her to go home alone ; consequently, when he could not 
accompany her she remained over night in the dwelling 
W'hich housed the post office. Panthers, too, were occa- 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 275 

sionally met with in the locahty — in the original surveys 
this region was referred to as "Catland" — also huge red 
bears and the somewhat smaller black ones. 

If he was going west, she continued in her pretty 
way, he must not fail to visit the great limestone cave 
near where the Brush Mountains ended. She had a 
sister, married and living not far from it, from whom 
she had heard wonderful tales, though she had never 
been there herself. It was a cave so vast it had not as 
yet been fully explored ; one could travel for miles in it 
in a boat ; the Karoondinha, or John Penn's Creek, had 
its source in it ; Indians had formerly lived in the dry 
parts, and wild beasts. Then she lowered her voice to 
say that it was now haunted by the Indians' spirits. 

And so they talked until a very late hour, the crowd 
in the post office melting away, until Jared Hager, the 
girl's father, in his wolfskin coat, appeared to escort her 
home, to the cabin beyond the waterfall near the trail 
to Dolly Hope's Valley. She was to have a holiday 
until the next afternoon. 

The wolf hunter was a courageous-looking man, 
much darker than his daughter, with a heavy black 
beard and bushy eyebrows; in fact, she was the only 
brown-haired, blue-eyed one in the entire family con- 
nection. He spoke pleasantly with the young stranger, 
and then they all said good night. 

"Don't forget to visit the great cavern," Caroline 
called to the youth. 

"I surely will,'' he answered, "and stop here on my 
wav east to tell vou all al)Out it." 



276 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

"That's good ; we want to see you again," said the 
girl, as she disappeared into the gloomy shadows which 
the shaggy white pines cast across the road. 

Young Stover was playing "Green Grows the 
Rushes" on his fiddle in the tap-room, and Sargeant 
sat there listening to him, dreaming and musing all the 
while, his consciousness singularly alert, until the clos- 
ing hour came. 

That night, in the old stained four-poster, in his tiny, 
cold room, he slept not at all. "Vet he feared to 
dream." Though his thoughts carried him all over the 
world, the little postmistress was uppermost in every 
fancy. Among the other things, he wished that he had 
asked her to ride with him to the cave. They could have 
visited the subterranean marvels together. He got out 
of bed and managed to light the fat lamp. By its sput- 
tering gleams he wrote her a letter, which came to an 
abrupt end as the small supply of ink which he carried 
with him was exhausted. P)Ut as he repented of the 
intense sentences penned to a person who knew him so 
slightly, he arose again before morning and tore it to 
bits. 

There was a white frost on the buildings ancf ground 
when he came downstairs. The autumn air was cold, 
the atmosphere was a hazy, melancholy gray. There 
seemed to be a cessation of all the living forces of na- 
ture, as if waiting for the summons of winter. From 
the chimney of the old inn came purple smoke, charged 
with the pungent odor of burning pine wood. 

With a strange sadness he saddled his horse and re- 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 277 

sumed his ride towards the west. He thought con- 
stantly of CaroHne — so much so that after he had trav- 
eled ten miles he wanted to turn hack ; he felt miserable 
without her. If only she were riding beside him, the 
two bound for Penn's Valley Cave, he could be su- 
premely happy. Without her, he did not care to visit 
the cavern, or anything else ; so at Jacobsburg he 
crossed the Nittany Mountains, leaving the southerly 
valleys behind. 

He rode up Nittany Valley to Bellefonte, where he 
met the agent of the Snow Shoe Company. With this 
gentleman he visited the vast tract being opened up to 
lumbering, mining and colonization. But his thoughts 
were elsewhere; they were across the mountains with 
the little postmistress of Stover's. 

Satisfied that his investment would prove remunera- 
tive, he left the development company's cozy lodge- 
house, and, with a heart growing lighter with each mile, 
started for the east. It was wonderful how differently 
— how vastly more beautiful the country seemed on 
this return journey. He fully appreciated the wistful 
loveliness of the fast-fading autumn foliage, the crisp- 
ness of the air, the lieauty of each stray tuft of asters, 
the last survivors of the wild flowers along the trail. 
The world was full of joy. everything was in harmony. 

Again it was after nightfall when he reined his horse 
in front of Stover's long, rambling public house. This 
time two doors opened simultaneously, sending forth 
golden lights and shadows. One was from the tap- 
room, where the hostler emerged ; the other from the 



278 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

post office, bringing" little Caroline. There was no mail 
that night, consequently the office was practically de- 
serted; she had time to come out and greet her much- 
admired friend. And let it be said that ever since she 
had seen him her heart was agog with the image of 
Mifflin Sargeant. She was canny enough to appreciate 
such a man; besides, he was a good-looking youth, 
though perhaps of a less robust type than those most 
admired in the Red Hills. 

After cordial greetings the young man ate supper, 
after which he repaired to the post office. By that time 
the last straggler was gone ; he had a blissful evening 
with his fair Caroline. She anticipated his coming, 
being somewhat of a psychic, and had arranged to spend 
the night with the Stovers. There was no hurry to 
retire ; when they went out on the porch, preparatory 
to locking up, the hunter's moon was sinking behind 
the western knobs, which rose like the pyramids of 
Egypt against the sky line. 

Sargeant lingered around the old house lor three 
days ; when he departed it was with extreme rcractiaice. 
Seeing Caroline again in the future appeared like some- 
thing too good to be true, so down-hearted was he at 
the parting. But he had arranged to come ])ack the 
following autumn, bringing an extra horse with him. 
and the two would ride to the wonderful cavern in 
Penn's Valley and explore lo the ends its stygian depths. 
Meanwhile they would make most of their sc])aration 
through a regular correspondence. 

Despite glances, pressure of hands, chance caresses, 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 279 

and evident happiness in one another's society, not a 
word of love had passed between the pair. That was 
why the pain of parting was so intense. If CaroHne 
could have remembered one loving phrase, 'hen she 
would have felt that she had something tangible on 
which to hang her hopes. If the young Philadelphian 
had unburdened his heart by telling her that he loved 
her, and her alone, and heard her words of affirmation, 
the world out into which he was riding" would have 
seemed less a blank. 

But underneath his love, burning like a hot branding 
iron, was his consciousness of class, his fear of the 
consequences if he took to the great city a bride from 
another sphere. As an only son, he could not picture 
himself deserting his widowed mother and sisters, and 
living at Snow Shoe ; there he was sure that Caroline 
would be happy. Neither could he sec permanent 
peace of mind if he married her and brought her into 
his exclusive circles in the Quaker City. 

As he was an honorable young man, and his love was 
real, making her truly and alwa}s happy was the solitary 
consideration. These thoughts marred the parting; 
they blistered and ravaged his spirit on the whole 
dreary way back to Liverpool. There his colored ser- 
vant, an antic darkey, was waiting at the old Susque- 
hanna House to ride the horse to Philadelphia. 

The young man boarded the packet, riding on it to 
Harrisburg, where he took the steam train for home. 
In one way he was happier than ever before in his life, 
for he had found love ; in another he was the most de- 



280 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

jected of men, for his beloved might never be his own. 
He seemed gayer and stronger to his family ; evi- 
dently the trip into the v^ilderness had done him good. 
He had begun his letter-writing to Caroline promptly. 
It was his great solace in his heart perplexity. She 
wrote a very good letter, very tender and sympathetic; 
the handwriting was clear, almost masculine, denoting 
the bravery of her spirit. 

During the winter he was called upon through his 
sisters to mingle much with the society of the city. He 
met many beautiful and attractive young women, but 
for him the die of love had been cast. He was Caro- 
line's irretrievably. Absence made his love firmer, yet 
the solution of it all the more enigmatical. 

The time passed on apace. Another autumn set in, 
but on account of important business matters it was not 
until December that Sargeant departed for the wilds of 
mountainous Pennsylvania. But he could spend Christ- 
mas with his love. 

This time he sent two horses ahead to Liverpool. 
When he reached the queer old river town he dropped 
into an old saddlery shop, where the canal-boat drivers 
had their harness mended, and purchased a neat side 
saddle, all studded with brass-headed nails. This he 
tied on behind his servant's saddle. 

The two horsemen started up the beautiful West 
Mahantango, crossing the Shade Mountain to Swine- 
fordstown, thence along the edge of Jack's Mountain, 
by the gently flowing Karoondinha, to Hartley Hall 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 281 

and the Narrows, through the Fox Gap and IMinnick's 
Gap, a shghtly shorter route to Stover's. 

On his previous trip he had ridden along the river to 
Sehn's Grove, across Chestnut Ridge to New Berhn, 
over Shamokin Ridge to Youngmanstown, and from 
there to the Narrows; he was in no hurry; no dtarly 
loved girl was waiting for him in those days. 

Caroline, looking prettier than ever — she was a trifle 
plumper and redder cheeked — was at the post office 
steps to greet him. Despite his avoidance of words of 
love, she was certain of his inmost feelings, and opined 
that somehow the ultimate result would be well. 

Sargeant had arranged to arrive on a Saturday even- 
ing, so that they could begin their ride to the cave that 
night after the post office closed, and l)e there l)right 
and early Sunday morning. For this reason he had 
traveled by very easy stages from Hartley Hall, that 
the horses might be fresh for their added journey. 

Sargeant's devoted Negro factotvmi was taken some- 
what aback when he saw how attentive the young man 
was to the girl, and marveled at the mountain maid's 
rare beauty. Upon instructions from his master, he set 
about to changing the saddles, placing the brand new 
lady's saddle on the horse he had been riding. 

It was not long until the tiny post office was closed 
for the night, and Caroline emerged, wearing a many- 
caped red riding coat, the hood of which she threw over 
her head to keep the wavy, chestnut hair in place. She 
climbed into the saddle gracefully — she seemed a 
natural horse-woman — and soon the loving pair were 



282 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

cantering up the road towards Wolfe's Store, Rebers- 
burg and the cave. 

It was not quite da}-break when they passed the 
home of old Jacob Harshl)arger, the tenant of the "cave 
farm ;" a Creelcy rooster was crowing lustily in the 
barnyard, the unmilked cattle of the ancient black breed 
shook their shaggy heads lazily ; no one was up. 

The young couple had planned to visit the cave, 
breakfast, and spend the day with Caroline's sister, 
who lived not far away at Centre Hill, and ride leisurely 
back to Stover's in the .late afternoon. It had been a 
very cold all-night ride, but they had been so happy 
that it seemed brief and free from all disagreeable 
physical sensations. 

In those days there was no boat in the cave, and no 
guides ; consequently all intending visitors had to bring 
their own torches. This Caroline had seen to, and in 
her leisure moments for weeks before her lover's com- 
ing, had been arranging a supply of rich pine lights that 
would see them safely through the gloomy labyrinths. 

They fed their horses and then tied them to the fence 
of the orchard which surrounded the entrance to the 
"dry" cave, which had l)een recently set out. Several 
big original white pines grew along the road, and would 
give the horses shelter in case it turned out to be a 
windy day. The young couple strolled through the 
orchard, and down the steep path to the mouth of the 
"watery" cave, where they gazed for some minutes at 
the expanse of greenish water, the high span of the 



ALLEGHENY EP ISODES 283 

arched root, the general impressiveness of the scene, so 
hke the stage setting of some eltin drama. 

They sat on the dead grass, near this entrance, eating 
a Hght breakfast with rehsh. Then they wended their 
way up the hill to the circular "hole in the ground" 
which formed the doorw^ay to the "dry" cave. The 
torches were carefully lit, the supply of fresh ones was 
tied in a bundle about Sargeant's waist. The l)urning 
pine gave forth an aromatic odor and a mellow light. 
They descended through the narrow opening, the young 
man going ahead and helping his sweetheart after him. 
Down the spiral passageway they went, until at length 
they came into a larger chamber. Here the torches cast 
unearthly shadows, bats flitted about; some small ani- 
mal ran past them into an aperture at a far corner. 
Sargeant declared that he believed the elusive creature 
a fox, and he followed in the direction in which it had 
;;one. 

When he came to this opening he peered through it, 
finding that it led to an inner chamber of impressive 
proportions. He went back, taking Caroline by the 
hand, and led her to the narrow chamber, into which 
they both entered. Once in the interior room, they 
were amazed by its size, the height of its roof, the 
beauty of the stalactite formations. They sat down on 
a fallen stalagmite, holding aloft their torches, absorbed 
by the beauty of the scene. 

Tn the midst of their musing, a sudden gust of wind 
blew out their lights. They were in utter darkness. 
The young lover bade his sweetheart be unafraid, while 



284 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

he reached his hand in his pocket for the matches. 
They were primitive affairs, the few he had. and he 
could not make them hght. He had not counted on the 
use of the matches, as he thought one torch could be ht 
from another ; consequently had brought so few with 
him. Finally he lit a match, but the dampness extin- 
guished it before he could ignite his torch. 

When the last match failed, it seemed as if the couple 
were in a serious predicament. They first shouted at 
the top of their voices but only empty echoes answered 
them. They fumbled about in the chamber, stumbling 
over rocks and stalagmites, their eyes refusing to be- 
come accustomed to the profound blackness. Try as 
they would, they could not locate the passage that led 
from the room they were in to the outer apartment. 

Caroline, little heroine that she was, made no com- 
plaint. If she had any secret fears, her lover eft'ect- 
ually (juenched them by telling her that the presence of 
the two saddle horses tied to the orchard fence would 
acquaint the Harshbarger family of their presence in 
the cave. 

"Surely," he went on, "we will be rescued in a few 
hours. There's bound to be some member of the house- 
hold or some hunter see those horses." 

l^ut the hours passed, and with them came no inti- 
mations of rescue. But the two "prisoners" loved one 
another, time was nothing to them. In the outer world, 
both thought, but neither made bold to say, that they 
might have to separate — in the cave they were one in 
purpose, one in love. How gloriously happy they were ! 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 285 

But they did get a trifle hungry. l)ut that was appeased 
at first by the remnants of the Ijreakfast provisions, 
which they luckily still had in a little bundle. 

\Mien sufiicient time had elapsed for night to set in. 
they fell asleep, and in each other's arms. Caroline's 
last conscious moment was to feel her lover's kisses. 
When they awoke, many hours afterwards, they were 
hungrier than ever, and thirsty. Sargeant fumbled 
about, locating a small pool of water, where the two 
quenched their thirsts. E^)Ut still they were happy, come 
what may. 

They would be rescued, that was certain, unless the 
horses had broken loose and run away, but there was 
small chance of that. They had been securely tied. It 
was strange that no one had seen the steeds in so long a 
time, with the farmhouse less than a quarter of a mile 
away — but it was at the foot of the hill. 

Hunger grew apace with every hour. After a while 
drinking water could not sate it. It throbbed and 
ached, it became a dull pain that only love could tri- 
umph over. Again enough hours elapsed to bring 
sleep, but it was harder to find repose, though Sar- 
geant's kisses were marvelous recompense. Caroline 
never whimpered from lack of food. To be with her 
lover was all she asked. She had prayed for over a 
year to be with him again. She would be glad to die 
at his side, even of starvation. 

The young man was content ; hunger was less a pain 
to him than had been the past fourteen months' separa- 
tion. 



286 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

Again came what the}- supposed to he morning. 
They knew that there must he some way out near at 
hand, as the air was so pure. They shouted, but the 
dull echoes were their only reward. Strangely enough, 
they had never felt another cold gust like the one which 
had blown out their torches. Could the shade of one of 
the old-time Indians who had fought for possession of 
the cave been perpetrator of the trick? suggested lovely 
little Caroline. If so, she thought to herself, he had 
helped her, not harmed her. for could there be in the 
world a sensation half so sweet as sinking to rest in 
her lover's arms? 

Meanwhile the world outside the cavern had been 
going its way. Shortly after the young equestrians 
passed the Harshbarger dwelling, all the familv had 
come out, and, after attending to their farm duties, 
driven off to the Seven Mountains, where the sons of 
the family maintained a hunting camp on Cherry Run, 
on the other side of High Valley. 

The boys had killed an elk, consequently the guests 
remained longer than expected, to partake of a grand 
Christmas feast. They tarried at the camp all of that 
day, all of the next; it was not until early on the morn- 
ing of the third day that they started back to the T'enn's 
Creek farm. 

They had arranged with a neighl)or's boy, ^losey 
Scull, who lived further along the creek below the farm- 
house, to do the feeding in their absence ; it was win- 
ter, there was no need to hurry home. 

^^'hen thev sjot home thev found Mosev in the act of 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 287 

watering two very dejected and dirty looking horses 
with saddles on their backs. 

"Where did they come from?" shouted the big 
freight-wagon load in unison. 

"I found them tied to the fence up at the orchard. 
By the way they act I'd think they hadn't been watered 
or fed for several days," replied the boy. 

"You dummy!" said old Harshbarger, in Dutch. 
"Somebody's in that cave, and got lost, and can't get 
out." 

He jumped from the heavy wagon and ran to a cor- 
ner of the corncrib, where he kept a stock of torches. 
Then he hurried up the steep hill towards the entrance 
to the "dry" cave. The big man was panting when he 
rached the opening, where he paused a moment to 
kindle a torch with his flints. Then he lowered himself 
into the aperture, shouting at the top of his voice, 
"Hello! Hello! Hello!" 

It was not until he had gotten into the first chamber 
that the captives in the inner room could hear him. 
Sargeant had been sitting with his back propped against 
the cavern wall, while Caroline, very pale and white- 
lipped, was lying across his knees, gazing up into the 
darkness, imagining that she could see his face. 

When they heard the cheery shouts of their deliverer 
they did not instantly attempt to scramble to their feet. 
Instead the young lover bent over; his lips touched 
Caroline's, who instinctively had raised her face to meet 
his. As his lips touched hers, he whisi)ered : 



288 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

"I love you, darling, with all my heart. We will be 
married when we get out of here." 

Caroline had time to say : "You are my only love," 
before their lips came together. 

They were in that position when the tiare of Farmer 
Harshbarger's torch lit up their hiding place. Pretty 
soon they were on their feet and, with their rescuer, 
figuring out just how long they had been in their prison 
— their prison of love. 

They had gone into the cave on the morning of De- 
cember 24th; it was now the morning of the 27th; in 
fact almost noon. Christmas had come and gone. 

Caroline still had enough strength in reserve to enable 
her to climb up the tortuous passage, though her lover 
did help her some, as all lovers should. 

The farmer's wife had some coffee and buckwheat 
cakes ready when they arrived at the mansion, which 
the erstwhile captives of Penn's Cave sat down to enjoy. 

As they were eating, another of Plarshbarger's sons 
rode up on horseback. He had been to the post office 
at Earlysburg. He handed Sargeant a tiny, roughly 
typed newspaper published in Millheim. Across the 
front page, in letters larger than usual, were the words, 
"Mexico Declares War on the United States." 

Sargeant scanned the headline intently, then laid the 
paper on the table. 

"Our country has been drawn into a war with 
Mexico," he said, his voice trembling with emotion. 
"1 liad hoped it might Ije avoided. I am First Lieuten- 
ant of the Lafayette Greys; I fear Fll have to go." 




f^ 







Aii^,r-« • » 






ALLEGHENY EPISODES 



289 



Caroline lost the color which had come back to her 
pretty cheeks since emerging" from the underground 
dungeon. She reached over, grasping her lover's now 
clammy hand. Then, noticing that no one was listening, 
she said, faintly : 

"It is terrible to have you leave me now ; but won't 
you marry me before you go? I do love you." 

"Certainly I will," replied Sargeant, with enthusiasm. 
"I will have more to fight for, with you at home bear- 
ing my name." 

Love had broken the bonds of caste. 




XXI. 

The Silent Friend 

EVERY ONE who has hunted in the "Seven 
Brothers'", as the Seven ^lountains are called 
in Central Pennsylvania, has heard of Daniel 
Karstetter, the famous Nimrod. The Seven Moun- 
tains comprise the Path Valley, Short Bald, Thick 
Head, Sand. Shade and Tussey Mountains. Though 
three-quarters of a century has passed since he was in 
his hey-day as a slayer of big game, his fame is un- 
diminished. Anecdotes of his prowess are related in 
every hunting camp ; b}' one and all he has been 
acclaimed the greatest hunter that the Seven Brothers 
ever produced. 

The great Nimrod, who lived to a very advanced 
age, was born in 1818 on the banks of Pine Creek, at 
the Blue Rock, half a mile below the present town of 
Coburn. In addition to his hunting prowess, he was 
interested in psychic experiences, and was as prone to 
discuss his adventures with supernatural agencies as 
his conflicts with the wild denizens of the forests. 
There was a particular ghost story which he loved 
dearly to relate. 

Accompanied by his younger brother Jacob, he had 
been attending a dance one night across the mountains, 
in the environs of the town of Milroy. for like all the 
backwoods boys of his time, he was adejit in the art 
of terpsichore. The long journey was made on horse- 

290 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 291 

back, the lads being mounted on stout Conestoga 
chargers. 

The homeward ride was commenced after midnight, 
the two brothers riding along the dark trail in single 
file. In the wide flat on the top of the "Big Mountain" 
Daniel fell into a doze. When he awoke, his mount 
having stumbled on a stone. Jacol) was nowhere to l)e 
seen. Thinking that his brother had put his horse to 
trot and gone on ahead, Daniel dismissed the matter of 
his absence from his mind. 

As he was riding down the steep slope of the moun- 
tain, he noticed a horseman waiting for him on the 
path. When they came abreast the other rider fell in 
beside him, skillfully guiding his horse so that it did 
not enounter the dense foliage which lined the narrow 
way. Daniel su])posed the party to l)e his brother, 
although the unknown kept his lynx-skin collar turned 
up. and his felt cap was pulled down level with his 
eyes. It was pitchy dark, so to make sure. Daniel 
called out : 

"Is that you, Jacob?" 

His companion did not reply, so the young man 
repeated his query in still louder tones, but all he 
heard was the crunching of the horses' hoofs on the 
pebbly road. 

Daniel Karstetter. master slayer of panthers, bears 
and woh-es, was no coward, though on this occasion he 
felt uneasy. Yet he disliked picking a f|uarrel with 
the silent man at his side, who clearly was not his 
brother, and he feared to put his horse to a gallop on 



292 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

the steep, uneven roadway. The trip home never 
before seemed of such interminal)le length. For the 
greater part of the distance Daniel made no attempt to 
converse with his unsociable comrade. Finally, he 
heaved a sigh of relief when he saw a light gleaming 
in the horse stable at the home farm. When he 
reached the barnyard gate he dismounted to let down 
the bars, while the stranger apparently vanished in the 
gloom. 

Daniel led his mount to the horse stable, where he 
found his brother Jacob sitting by the old tin lantern, 
fast asleep. He awakened him and asked him when 
he had gotten home. Jacob stated that his horse had 
been feeling good, so he let him canter all the way. 
He had been sleeping, but judged that he had been 
home at least half an hour. He had met no horseman 
on the road. 

Daniel was convinced that his companion had been 
a ghost, or, as they are called in the "Seven Brothers," 
a gsJipook. PnU he made no further comment that 
night. 

A vear afterw'ards, in coming back alone from a 
dance in Stone Valley, he was again joined by the 
silent horseman, who followed him to his barnyard 
gate. He gave up going to dances on that account. At 
least once a year, or as long as he was able to go out 
at night, he met the ghostly rider. Sometimes, when 
tram])ing along on foot after a hunt, or, in later years, 
coming back from market at Bellefonte in his Jenny 
Find, he would find the silent horseman at his side. 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 293 

After the first experience, he never attempted to speak 
to the night rider, hut he hccame convinced that it 
meant him no harm. 

As his prowess as a hunter hecame recognized, he 
had many jealous rivals among the less successful 
Nimrods. In those old days threats of all kinds were 
freely made. He heard on several occasions that cer- 
tain hunters were setting out to "fix" him. But a man 
who could wrestle with panthers and liears knew no 
such thing as fear. 

One night, while trami)ing along in Green's Valley, 
he was startled liy some one in the path ahead of him 
shouting out in Pennsylvania German. "Hands up!" 
He was on the point of dropping his rifle, when he 
heard the rattle of hoof heats back of him. The silent 
horseman in an instant was by his side, the dark horse 
pawing the earth with his giant hoofs. There was a 
crackling of Inrush in the path ahead, and no more 
threats of hend uff. 

The ghostly rider followed Daniel to his barn yard 
gate, but was gone before he could utter a word of 
thanks. As the result of this adventure, he became 
imbued with the idea that he possessed a charmed life. 
It gave him added courage in his many encounters with 
panthers, the fierce red bears and lynxes. 

Apart from his love of hunting the more dangerous 
animals, Daniel enjoyed the sport of deer-stalking. He 
maintained several licks, one of them in a patch of 
low ground over the hill from the entrance to the 
"dry" part of Penn's Cave. At this spot he con- 



294 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

structed a blind, or platform, between the two ancient 
tupelo trees, about twenty feet from the ground, and 
many were the huge white-faced stags which fell to 
his unerring l)ullets during the rutting season. 

One cold night, according to an anecdote frequently 
related by one of his descendants, while perched in his 
eyrie overlooking the natural clearing which consti- 
tuted the !ick\ and in sight of a path frequented by 
the fiercer beasts, which led to the opening of the 
"dry" cave, he saw, about midnight, a huge pantheress, 
followed by a large male of the same species, come 
out into the open. 

"The pantheress strolled from the path," so the 
story went, "and came and laid herself down at the 
roots of the tupelo trees, while the panther remained 
in the path, and seemed to be listening to some noise 
as yet inaudible to the hunter. 

"Daniel soon heard a distant roaring; it seemed to 
come from the very summit of the Brush Mountain, 
and immediately the pantheress answered it. Then 
the panther on the path, his jealousy aroused, com- 
menced to roar with a voice so loud that the frightened 
hunter almost let go his trusty rifle and held tighter to 
the railing of his blind, lest he might tumble to the 
earth. As the voice of the animal that he had heard 
in the distance gradually aj^proaclied, the pantheress 
welcomed him with renewed roarings, and the panther, 
restless, went and came from the path to his flirtatious 
flame, as though he wished her to keep silence, as 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 295 

though to say, 'Let him come if he dares; he wih find 
his match'. 

"In about an hour a panther, with mouse-color, 
or grey coat, stepped out of the forest, and stood in 
the fuU moonHght on the other side of the cleared 
place, the moonbeams illuminating his form with a 
glow like phosphorescence. The pantheress, eyeing him 
with admiration, raised herself to go to him, but the 
panther, divining her intent, rushed before her and 
marched right at his adversary. With measured step 
and slow, they approached to within a dozen paces 
of each other, their smooth, round heads high in the 
air, their l)ulging yellow eyes gleaming, their long, 
tufted tails slowly sweeping down the brittle asters 
that grew about them. The)- crouched to the earth — 
a moment's pause^and then they bounded with a 
hellish scream high in the air and rolled on the ground, 
locked in their last embrace. 

"The battle was long and fearful, to the amazed and 
spellbound witness of this midnight duel. Even if he 
had so wished, he could not have taken steady enough 
aim to fire. But he preferred to watch the combat, 
while the moonlight lasted. The bones of the two 
combatants cracked under their powerful jaws, their 
talons painted the frosty ground with blood, and their 
outcries, now gutteral, now sharp and loud, told their 
rage and agony. 

"At the beginning of the contest the pantheress 
crouched herself on her l)elly, with her eyes fixed upon 
the gladiators, and all the while the battle raged. 



296 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

manifested by the slow, catlike motion of her tail, the 
pleasure she felt at the spectacle. When the scene 
closed, and all was quiet and silent and deathlike on the 
lick, and the moon had commenced to wane, she cau- 
tiously approached the battle-gound and, sniffing the 
lifeless bodies of her two lovers, walked leisurely to a 
nearby oak, where she stood on her hind feet, sharp- 
ening her fore claws on the bark. 

"She glared up ferociously at the hunter in the blind, 
as if she meant to vent her anger by climbing after 
him. In the moonlight her golden eyes appeared so 
terrifying that Daniel dropped his rifle, and it fell to 
the earth with a sickening thud. As he reached after 
it, the flimsy railing gave way and he fell, literally 
into the arms of the pantheress. At that moment 
the rumble of horses' hoofs, like thunder on some 
distant mountain, was heard. Just as the panther 
was about to rend the helpless Nimrod to bits, the 
unknown rider came into view. Scowling at the 
intruder, mounted on his huge l)lack horse, the brute 
abandoned its prey and ambled ofif up the hill in the 
direction of the dry cave. 

"Daniel seized his firearm and sent a bullet after 
her retreating form, but it apparently went wild of 
its mark. Meanwhile, before he had time to express 
his gratitude to the strange deliverer, he had vanished. 

"Daniel was dumbfounded. As soon as he had re- 
covered from the l)lood-curdling episodes, built a small 
fire near the mammoth carcasses, where he warmed 
his much benuml)ed hands. Then he e:^amincd the 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 297 

dead panthers, but found that their hides were too 
badly torn to warrant skinnins^^ 

"Disgusted at not getting his deer, and being even 
cheated out of the panther pelts, he dragged the ghastly 
remains of the erstwhile kings of the forest by their 
tails to the edge of the entrance to the dry cave. 
There he cut off the long ears in order to collect the 
bounty, and then shoved the carcasses into the open- 
ing. -They fell with sickening thuds into the chamber 
beneath, to the evident horror of the pantheress, which 
uttered a couple of piercing screams as the horrid 
remnants of the recent battle royal landed in her 
vicinity. 

"Then Jacob shouldered his rifle and started out in 
search of small game for breakfast. That night he 
went to another of his licks on Elk Creek, near Ful- 
mer's Sink, where he killed four superb stags," so the 
story concludes. 

But to his dying day he always placed the battle of 
the panthers first of all his hunting adventures. And 
his faith in the unknown horseman as his deliverer and 
good genius became the absorbing, all-pervading in- 
fluence of his life. 



XXII. 

The Fountain of Youth 

OLD Chief W'isaniek, of the Kittochtinny Indians, 
had lost his spouse. He was close to sixty years 
of age, which was old for a redman. especially 
one who had led the hard life of a warrior, exposed to 
all kinds of weather, fasts and forced marches. Though 
he felt terrihly lonely and depressed in his state of 
widowerhood, the thought of discarding the fidelity of 
the eagle, which, if ])ereaved, never takes a second 
mate, and was the noble bird he worshipped, seemed 
repugnant to him until he happened to see the fair and 
buxom maid Annapalpeteu. 

He was rheumatic, walking with difficulty ; he tired 
easily, was fretful, all sure signs of increasing age ; but 
what upset him most was the sight of his reflection in 
his favorite pool, a haggard, weazened, wrinkled face, 
with a nose like the beak of an eagle, and glazed eyes as 
colorless as clay. When he opened his mouth the re- 
flected image seemed to he mostly toothless, the lips 
were blue and thin. He had noticed that he did not 
need to pluck the hairs from his skull any more to give 
prominence to his warrior's top-knot; the proud tufts 
itself was growing sparse and weak; to keep it erect he 
was now compelled to braid it with hair from a buffa- 
lo's tail. 

Brave warrior that he was. he hated to pay his court 

298 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 299 



to the lovely Annapalpeteu when on all sides he saw 
stalwart, six-foot youths, masses of sinews and muscle, 
clear-eyed, firm-lipped, always ambitious and high- 
spirited, more suited to be her companions. 

But one afternoon he saw his copper-colored love 
sitting by the side of the Bohundy Creek, beating maize 
in a wooden trough, tier entire costume consisted of a 
tight petticoat of blue cloth, hardly reaching to the 
knees, and without any ruffles. Her cheeks and fore- 
head were neatly daubed with red. She seemed very 
well content with her coadjutor, a bright young fellow, 
who. except for two wild cat hides appropriately dis- 
tributed, was quite as naked as the ingenuous beauty. 
That Annapalpeteau had a cavalier was now certain, 
and immediately it rankled what flames remained in his 
jaded body; he must have her at any cost. 

Down by the Conadogwinet. across the Broad Moun- 
tain, lived Mbison. a wise man. Old Wisamek would 
go there and consult him. perhaps obtain from him 
some potion to permanently restore at least a few of 
the fires of his lost youih. Though his will power had 
been appreciably slackening of late years, he acted with 
alacrity on the idea of visiting the soothsayer. Before 
sundown he was on his way to the south, accompanied 
by several faithful henchmen. Carrying a long iron- 
wood staff, he moved on with unwonted agility; it was 
very dark, and the path difficult to follow, when he 
finally consented to bivouac for the night. The next 
morning found him so stiff that he could hardly clam- 
ber to his feet. His henchmen assisted him. though 



300 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

they begged him to rest for a day. But his will forced 
him on; he wanted to be verile and win the beautiful 
Annapalpateu. 

The journey, which consumed a week, cost the aged 
Strephon a world of effort. But as he had been 
indefatigable in his youth, he was determined to reach 
the wise man's headquarters walking like a warrior, and 
not carried there on a litter like an old woman. Bravely 
he forged ahead, his aching joints paining miserably, 
until at length he came in sight of his Promised Land. 

The soothsayer, who had been apprised of his coming 
by a dream, was in front of his substantial lodge-house 
to greet him. Seldom had he received a more distin- 
guished client than Wisamek, so he welcomed him with 
marked courtesy and deference. 

After the first formalities, the old chief, who had 
restrained himself with difficulty, asked how he could 
be restored to a youthful condition, so that he could 
rightfully marry a beautiful maiden of eighteen sum- 
mers. The wise man, who had encountered similar 
supplicants in the past, informed him that the task was 
a comparatively easy one. It would involve, however, 
however, first drinking the waters of the Warm 
Springs (in what is now Perry County), then another 
journey across mountains. 

Wiisamek shouted for joy when he heard these words, 
and impatiently demanded where he would have to go 
to be finally restored to youth. 

"Across many high movmtain ranges, across many 
broad valleys, across many swift streams, through a 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 301 

country covered with dark forests and filled with wild 
beasts, to the northwest of here, is a wonderful cavern. 
In it rises a deep stream of greenish color, clear -ts 
crystal, the fountain of youth. At its heading you will 
find a very old man, Gamunk, who knows the formula. 
Give him this talisman, and he will allow you to loathe 
in the marvelous waters and be young again." 

With the final words he handed Wisamek a red 
bear's tooth, on which was cleverly carved the form 
of an athletic youth. The old chief's hands trembled 
so much that he almost dropped the precious fetich. 
But he soon recovered his self-control and thanked the 
wise man. Then he ordered his henchmen to give the 
soothsayer gifts, which they did, loading him with 
beads, pottery, wampum and rare furs. 

Despite the invitation to remain until he was com- 
pletely rested, Wisamek determined to depart at once 
for the warm springs and the fountain of youth. He 
drank the warm water copiously, enjoying the beautiful 
surroundings at the springs. Fie was so stimulated by 
his high hope and the mineral waters that he climbed 
the steep ridges, crossed the turbulent streams and put 
up with the other inconveniences of the long rn4\rch 
much better than might have been the case. During 
the entire journey he sang Indian love songs, strains 
which had not passed his lips in thirty years. 

His followers, gossiping among themselves, declared 
that he looked better already. Perhaps he would not 
have to bathe in the fountain after all. He might re- 



302 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

sume his youth, because he willed it so. Indians were 
strong Ijclievers in the power of mind over matter. 

When he reached the vicinity of the cave he was 
fortunate enough to meet the aged Indian who was its 
guardian. Though his hair was snow white and he 
said he was so old that he had lost count of the years. 
Gamunk's carriage was erect, his complexion smooth, 
his eyes clear and kindly. He walked along with a 
swinging stride, very different from Wisamek's men- 
tal picture of him. The would-be bridegroom, who 
handed him the talisman, was quick to impart his mis- 
sion to his new-found friend. 

"It is true," he replied, "after a day and a night's 
immersion in the cave's water you will emerge with all 
the appearance of youth. There is absolutely no doubt 
of it. Thousands have been here before." 

With these reassuring words Wisamek again leaped 
for joy, gyrating like a young brave at a cantico. 

The party, accompanied by the old guardian, (juickly 
arrived at the cave's main opening, where beneath them 
lay stretched the calm, mirror-like expanse of greenish 
water. 

"Can I begin the bath now?" asked the chief, impa- 
tiently. "I am anxious to throw off the odious appear- 
ance of age." 

"Immediately," replied the old watchman, who took 
him by the hand, leading to the ledge where it was high- 
est above tlie water. "Jum]i off' here," he said (|uietly. 
Wisamek, who had been a great swimmer in his youth 
and was absolutely fearless of the water, replied that 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 303 

he would do so. "But remember you must remain in 
the water without food until this hour tomorrow," said 
the guardian. 

As he leaped into the watery depths the chief shouted 
he would remain twice as long if he could be young 
again. Wisamek was true to his instructions ; there 
was too much at stake ; he dared not falter. 

The next morning his henchmen were at the cave's 
mouth to greet his reappearance. They were startled to 
see, climbing up the ledge with alacrity, a tall and hand- 
some man, as young looking as themselves. There was 
a smile on the full, red lips, a twinkle in the clear eye 
of the re-made warrior as he stood among them, physi- 
cally a prince among men. 

The homeward journey was made with rapidity. 
Wisamek traveled so fast that he played out his hench- 
men who were half his age. 

Annapalpeteu. who was seated in front of her pa- 
rents' cabin weaving a garment, noticed a youth of 
great physical beauty approaching, at the head of Chief 
Wisamek's clansmen. She wondered who he could be, 
as he wore Wisamek's headdress of feathers of the 
osprey or "sea eagle." When he drew near he saluted 
her, and, not giving her time to answer, joyfully shout- 
ed : "Don't you recognize me ? I am your good friend 
Wisamek, come back to win your love, after a refresh- 
ing journey through the distant forests.." 

Annapalpeteu. who was a sensible enough girl to 
have admired the great warrior for his prowess, even 
though she had never thought of him seriously as a 



304 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

lover, was now instantly smitten by his engaging ap- 
pearance. The henchmen withdrew, leaving the couple 
together. They made marked progress with their ro- 
mance; words of love were mentioned before they 
parted. 

It was not long before the betrothal was announced, 
followed shortly by the wedding festival. At the nup- 
tials the bridegroom's appearance was the marvel of all 
present. It was hinted that he had been somewhere 
and renewed his youth, but as the henchmen were 
sworn to secrecy, how it had been done was not re- 
vealed. 

The young bride seemed radiantly happy. She had 
every reason to be; the other Indian maids whispered 
from lip to lip, was she not marrying the greatest war- 
rior and hunter of his generation, the handsomest man 
in a hundred tribes? Secretly envied by all of her age, 
possessing her stalwart prize, the fair bride started on 
her honeymoon, showered with acorns and good wishes. 

So far as is known the wedding trip passed off bliss- 
fully. There were smiles on the l^right faces of both 
bride and groom when they returned to their spacious 
new lodge-house, which the tribe had erected for them 
in their absence, by the banks of the sparkling Bo- 
hundy. But the course of life did not run smoothly 
for the pair. Though outwardly Wisamek was the 
handsomest and most youthful-looking of men. he was 
still an old man at heart. Annapalpeteu was as pleas- 
ure-loving as she was beautiful. She wanted to dance 
and sing and mingle with youthful company. She 




HI<; SNVDKK < <H NTl Wll.I) < AT 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 305 

wanted her good time in life; her joy of hving was at 
its height, her sense of enjoyment at its zenith. 

On the other hand. Wisamek hated all forms -of 
gaieties or youthful amusements. He wanted to sit 
about the lodge-house in the sun, telling of his warlike 
triumphs of other days ; he wanted to sleep much, he 
hated noise and excitement. 

Annapalpeteu, dutiful wife that she was, tried to 
please him, but in due course of time both husband and 
wife realized that romance was dying, that they were 
drifting apart. Wisamek was even more aware of it 
than his wife. It worried him greatly, his dreams were 
of an unhappy nature. He pictured the end of the trail, 
with his wife, Annapalpeteu, in love with some one else 
of her own age, some one whose heart was young. He 
had spells of moodiness and irritability, as well as sev- 
eral serious quarrels with his wife, whom he accused of 
caring less for him than formerly. 

The relations became so strained that life in the 
commodious lodge-house was unbearable. At length it 
occurred to Wisamek that he might again visit the 
fountain of youth, this time to revive his souf. Per- 
haps he had not remained in the water long enough to 
touch the spirit within. He informed his spouse that 
he was going on a long journey on invitation of the war 
chief of a distant tribe, and that she must accompany 
him. He was insanely jealous of her now. He could 
not bear her out of his sight. He imagined she had a 
young lover back of every tree, though she was honor 
personified. 



306 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

The trip was made pleasantly enough, as the husband 
was in better spirits than usual. Annapalpeteu en- 
joyed the waters of the warm springs, would liked to 
have tarried. He thought he saw the surcease of his 
troubles ahead of him! 

When he reached the Beaver Dam IMeadows, at the 
foot of Egg Hill, near the site of the present town of 
Spring Mills, beautiful level flats which in those days 
were a favorite camping ground for the red men, he 
requested the beautiful Annapalpeteu to remain there 
for a few days, that he was going through a hostile 
country, he would not jeopardize her safet}'. He was 
going on an important mission that would make her 
love him more than ever when he returned. In reality 
no unfriendly Indians were about, Init in order to give 
a look of truth to his story he left her in charge of a 
strong bodyguard. 

Wisamek's conduct of late had l)een so peculiar that 
his wife was not sorry to see her lord and master go 
away. Handsome though he was, a spiritual barrier 
had arisen between them which grew more insurmount- 
able with each succeeding day. Yet, on this occasion, 
when he was out of her sight, she felt apprehensive 
about him. She had a strange presentiment that she 
would never see him again. 

Wisamek was filled with hopes ; his spirits had never 
been higher, as he strode along, followed by his hench- 
men. When he reached the top of the path which led 
to the mouth of the enchanted cave, he met old (lamunk. 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 307 

the guardian. The aged redman expressed surprise at 
seeing" him again. 

I have come for a very pecuhar reason," he said. 
"The bath which I took hist year outwardly made me 
young, but only outzvardly. Within I am as withered 
and joyless as a centenarian. I want to bathe once 
more, to try to revive the old light in my soul." 

Gamunk shook his head. "You may succeed ; I 
hope you will. I never heard of any one daring to take 
a second bath in these waters. The tradition of the 
hereditary guardians, of whom I am the hundredth in 
direct succession, has it that it would l)e fatal to take a 
second immersion, especially to remain in the water for 
twenty-four hours." 

Then he asked Wisamek for the talisman which gave 
him the right to bathe. Wisamek drew himself up 
proudly, and, with a gesture of his hand indicating dis- 
dain, said he had no talisman, that he would bathe any- 
how. He advanced to the brink and plunged in. Until 
the same hour the next day he floated and paddled 
about the greenish depths, filled with expectancy. For 
some reason it seemed longer this time than on the pre- 
vious visit. 

At last, by the light which filtered down through the 
treetops at the cave's mouth, he knew that the hour 
had come for him to emerge — emerge as Chief Wisamek 
— young in heart as in liody. Proudly he grasped the 
rocky ledge and swung himself out on dry land. He 
arose to his feet. His head seemed very light and 
giddy. He fancied he saw visions of his old conquests, 



308 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

old loves. There was the sound of music in the air. 
Was it the martial drums, played to welcome the con- 
queror, or the wind surging through the feathery tops 
of the maple and linden trees at the mouth of the cave? 
He started to climb the steep path. He seemed to be 
treading the air. Was it the buoyant steps of youth 
come again? He seemed to float rather than walk. 
The sunlight blinded his eyes. Suddenly he had a 
flash of normal consciousness. He dropped to the 
ground with a thud like an old pine falling. Then all 
was blackness, silence. Jaybirds complaining in the 
treetops alone broke the stillness. 

His bodyguards, who were waiting for him at old 
Gamunk's lodge-house, close to where the hotel now 
stands, became impatient at his non-appearance, as the 
hour was past. Accompanied by the venerable watch- 
man they started down the path. To their horror they 
saw the dead l)ody of a hideous, wrinkled old man, all 
skin and bones, like a desiccated mummy, lying stretched 
out across it, a few steps from the entrance to the cave. 
\\'hen they approached closely they noticed several fa- 
miliar tattoo marks on the forehead, which identified 
the body as that of their late master, Wisamek. 

Frightened lest they would be accused of his murder, 
and shocked by his altered appearance, the bodyguards 
turned and took to their heels. They disappeared in 
the trackless forests to the north and were never seen 
again. 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 



309 



Old Gamunk, out of pity for the vain-glorious chief- 
tain, buried the remains by the path near where he fell. 
As for poor Annapalpeteu, the beautiful, she waited 
patiently for many days b\- the Beaver Dam, but her 
waiting was in vain. At length, concluding that he had 
been slain in battle in some valorous encounter, she 
started for her old home on the Bohundy. 

It is related that on the way she met and married a 
warrior of her own age, living happily ever afterwards 
in a comfortable caliin somewhere in the majestic 
Bower Mountains. In him she found the loving re- 
sponse, the congeniality of pleasures which had been 
denied the dried, feeble soul of Wisamek, who bathed 
too often in the fountain of vouth. 




XXIII. 

Compensations 

IT seemed that Andrew McMeans and Oscar Wel- 
lendorf were horn to 1)6 engaged in rivarly, al- 
though judging hy their antecedents, the former 
was in a class heyond, McMeans being well-born, of 
old Scotch-Irish stock, a valuable asset on the Allegh- 
eny. Wellendorf, of Pennsylvania Dutch origin, of 
people coming from one of the eastern counties, was 
consequently rated much lower socially, had much more 
to overcome in the way of life's obstacles. The boys 
were almost of school age; Wellendorf, if anything, 
was a month or two (jlder. In school in Hickory \'al- 
ley neither was a brilliant scholar, but they were evenly 
matched, and although not aspiring to lead their 
classes, felt a keen rivalry between one another. 

When school days were over, and they took to raft- 
ing as the most obvious occupation in the locality, their 
rivalries as to who could run a fleet quickest to Pitts- 
l)urg, and come Ijack for another, was the talk of the 
river. In love it was not different, and despite the 
talk in ]\Ic]Mean's family that he should marry Anna 
McNamor, daughter of his father's life-long friend, 
Tabor McN^amor, the girl showed an open preference 
for Oscar Wellendorf. 

The old .Scotch-Irish families were, as the London 
Times said in commenting on some of the character- 

310 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 311 

istics of the late Senator Quay (inherited from his 
mother, bprn Stanley) "clannish to degree." and 
Anna's "people" were equally anxious that she marry 
one of her own stock, and not ally herself with the 
despised and socially insignificant "Dutch". Old 
Grandmother ]\IcClinton called attention to the fact 
that the headstrong beauty was not without a strain 
of "Dutch" blood herself, for her great, great grand- 
mother had been none other than the winsome Madelon 
Ury, a Swiss-Huguenot girl of Berks County, who, 
when surprised in the field hoeing corn by a blood- 
thirsty Indian, had dropped her hoe and taken to her 
heels. She ran so fast over the soft ground that she 
would have escaped her moccasined pursuer had she 
not taken time to cross a stone fence. This gave the 
red man the chance to throw his tomahawk, striking 
her in the neck, and she fell face downward over the 
wall. Just as her foe was overtaking her, Martin 
McClinton, a sword maker from Lancaster, who was 
passing along the Shamokin trail en route to deliver a 
sabre to Colonel Conrad W'eiser, at Heidelberg, rushed 
to her rescue and shot down the Indian, so that he fell 
dead across his fair victim. 

^kClinton extricated the tomahawk from her neek, 
bound up the wound with his own neckerchief and car- 
ried her to her parent's home, near the Falling Springs. 
He remained until the wound healed, when he married 
her. Later the pair migrated west of the Alleghenies. 

Aladelon McClinton was very dark, with an oval face 
and acjuilinc features, possibly having had a strain of 



312 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

Pennsylvania Jewish blood to. account for her l)runette 
type of beaut}'. She always wore a red scarf wrapped 
about her neck, being proud and sensitive of the ugly 
long white scar left by the Indian's weapon. 

This ancestress, so Grandmother McClinton thought, 
was responsible for Anna's affinity for the rather pro- 
saic Dutchman Wellendorf. Although the girl was 
open in her preference for Oscar, she did not make a 
decision as to matrimony for some time. When Wel- 
lendorf was absent, she was nicer to McMeans than 
anyone else. However, if Oscar appeared on the 
scene, she had eyes and ears for no other. 

On one occaison when the two young men started 
down the river on their rafts, proudly standing at the 
steering oars in the rear, for the Allegheny pilots rode 
at the back of the rafts, whereas those on the Sus- 
quehanna were always at the front. Anna was at the 
water's edge, under a huge buttonwood tree — or, as 
Wellendorf called it in the breezy vernacular of the 
Pennslvania Dutch, a "wasserpitcher"^ — and waved a 
red kerchief impartially at both. 

McMean's raft on this trip was of "pig iron", that 
is unpeeled liemlock logs, as heavy as lead, and became 
submerged when he had only gotten as far as the mouth 
of French Creek. He had to run ashore to try and 
devise ways and means to save it from sinking alto- 
gether, wdiile Wellendorf floated along serenely on 
his raft of white pine, and was to Pittsburg and back 
home before IVIcMeans ever reached the "Smoky City." 

"Of the forest on the Allegheny River," John C. 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 313 

French tells us, "White Pine (pinus strobus) was 
King, and his dusky Queen was a beautiful Wild 
Cherry, lovely as Queen Alliquippa of the redmen. 
Rafting lumber from W'arren County began about 
1800, and it reached its maximum in the decade, 1830 
to 1840. The early history of Warren County abounds 
in very interesting incidents, along the larger Allegh- 
eny River, from rafts of pine lumber assembled to 
couple up for Pittsburg fleets. 

"After the purchase of Louisiana, in 1804. the hardy 
lumbermen decided to extend their markets for pine 
beyond Pittslnirg. Wlieeling. Cincinnati and Louis- 
ville — to go, in fact, to New Orleans with pine and 
cherry lumber. So large boats were built in the win- 
ter of 1805 and 180G at many mills. Seasoned lum- 
ber of the best quality was loaded into the flat boats 
and they untied on April 1, 1806, for the run of two 
thousand miles, bordered by forests to the river's edge. 

"It was in defiance to 'All Fools' Day', but they 
went through and sold both lumber and boats. For 
clear pine lumber, $40.00 was the price per one thou- 
sand feet received at New Orleans — just double the 
Pittsburg price at that date. For three years there- 
after the mills of Warren County sent boats to New 
Orleans loaded with lumber, and the men returned on 
foot. Joseph Mead, Abraham Davis and John Watt 
took boats through in 1807, coming back via Philadel- 
phia on coastal sailing ships. 

"The pilots and men returned by river boats or on 
foot, as they best could. The markets along the Ohio 



314 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

from Pittsburg to St. Louis soon took all the lumber 
from the Allegheny mills, and the longer trips were 
gladly discontinued. 

"It was in 1850 that there came the first lumber 
famine at Pittsburg. Owing to the low price of lum- 
ber and an unfavorable winter for the forest work, 
few rafts of lumber and l)oard timber went down the 
Allegheny on the spring freshets, but the November 
floods brought one hundred rafts that sold for more 
favorable prices than had previously prevailed. Clear 
pine lumber sold readily for $18.00 and common pine 
lumber for $9.00 per one thousand feet. 

"The renown of these prices stimulated lumbering 
on the Allegheny headwaters and the larger creeks. So 
the demand for lumber was supplied and the railroads 
soon began to bring lumber from many sawmills. 
The board timber was hewed on four sides, so there 
were only five inches of wane on each of the four 
corners. These rafts of round-square timl)er were sold 
by square feet to Pittsburg sawmills. 

"Rafts of pine boards at headwater mills were made 
up of platforms, 16 feet square and from 18 to 35 
courses thick, 9 pins or "grubs" holding boards in place 
as rafted. Four or five platforms w^ere coupled in 
tandem with 3 feet "cribs" at each joint, making an 
elastic piece 715 feet or 93 feet long for a 4 or 5 i)lat- 
form piece as the case might be, l(i feet wide. 

"At Larrabee or at Millgrove four of these pieces 
were coupled into a Warren fleet, 33 feet wide, 149 
feet or 187 feet long. 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 315 

"Four Warren pieces or fleets were put together at 
Warren- to make up a Pittsburg fleet. At Pittsburg 
four or more Pittslnirg fleets were coupled to make 
an Ohio River fleet. .Some l)ecame very large, often 
covering nearly two acres of surface, containing about 
1.500,000 feet of lumber at Cincinnatti or at Louis- 
ville. They each had a hut for sheltering the men 
and for cooking their food. They often ran all night 
on the Ohio. To find where the shore was on a very 
dark night, the men would throw potatoes, judging 
from the sound how far awa\' the river liank was and 
of their safe or dangerous position. These men were 
of rugged ])odies and of daring minds. 

"A small piece, in headwaters and creeks, had an oar 
or sweep at each end of the piece to steer the raft with. 
Each oar usually had two men to pull it. An oar-stem 
was from 28 to 35 feet long, 8" by 8", and tapered 
to 4" by 4", shaved to round hand-hold near the end 
toward center of raft. The oar blade was 12', 14' 
or IG' long, and IS" to 20" wide, a pine plank, 4" 
thick at the oar-stem socket, and 1" thick at the out- 
end, tapered its whole length. 

"There were other sizes of stem and blade, but the 
al)Ove indicates the power that guided a raft of lumber 
along the flood-tides, crooked streams, and over a 
dozen mill dams to the broader river below. 

"From the Allegheny boats or scows, 30 feet long 
and 11 feet wide, carried loads of baled hay. butter, 
eggs and other farm produce to the oil fields of 
Venango County in the 'OO's, sold there and took oil 



316 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

in barrels to the refinery at Pittsljnrg. Then sold the 
scows to carry coal or goods down the Ohio. 

"]\Ir. Westerman built five l)oats at Roulette about 
1870, 40 feet long and 12 feet wide, loaded them 
with lumber and shingles and started for Pittsburg, 
but the 1)oats were too long for the dams and broke 
up at Burtville. the first dam. 

"Much of the pine timber of the west half of Pot- 
ter county was cut in sawlogs and sent to mills at 
jMillgrove and Weston's in log drives down the river 
and ( )sway(j Creek into the State of New York. The 
lum1)er was shipped via the Genesee Valley Canal to 
Albany and Xew York City and other points on the 
Hudson River. 

"The first steamboat to steam uj) the river from 
Warren was in 1830. It was built by Archibald Tan- 
ner, Warren's first merchant, and David Dick and 
others of Meadville. It was built in Pittsburg; the 
steamer was called Allegheny. It went to Olean, re- 
turned and went out of commission. 

"The late Major D. W. C. James furnished the inci- 
dent of the Allegheny voyage. A story was told by 
James Follett regarding the trip of the .Vllegheny 
from Warren, which illustrates the lack of speed of 
steamboats on the river at that early day. 

"While the steamer was passing the Indian reserva- 
tion, some twenty odd miles above Warren, the famous 
chief, Cornplanter, paddled his canoe out to the ves- 
sel and actually paddled his small craft up stream and 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 317 

around the Allegheny, the old chief giving a vigorous 
war hoop as he accomplished the proud feat. 

"Chief Cornplanter. alias John O'Bail, first took his 
young men to Clarion County, ahout 1?!)5, to learn 
the method of hunhering. and in 1?9() he built a saw- 
mill on Jenneseedaga Creek, later named Cornplanter 
Run, in A\'arren County, and rafted lumber down the 
Allehgeny to Pittsliurg for many years. 

"Many tributary streams, such as Clarion, Tionesta 
and Oswayo, contributed rafts each year to make up 
the fleets that descended the Allegheny River from 
1796 to 1874. our rafting days. 

"We must mention the Hotel Boyer, on the 
Duquesne Way. on the .Vllegheny River bank, near the 
"Point" at Pittsburg, where the raftsmen and the lum- 
bermen foregathered, traded, ate and drank together, 
after each trip. Indians were good pilots, but must 
be kept sober on the rafts. 'Bootleggers' along the 
river often ran boats out to the rafts and relieved the 
droughty crews by dispensing bottles of 'red-eye' 
from the long tops of the boots they wore." 

Of the big trees in the Allegheny country, Dr. J. T. 
Rothrock, "Father of Pennsylvania Forestry," has 
said: "About 1860, when I was with a crew survey- 
ing the line for the Sunbury & Erie Railroad, we had 
some difficulty in getting away from a certain loca- 
tion. A preliminary line came in conflict with an enor- 
mous original white pine tree, and the transitman 
shouted 'cut down that tree'. After it was felled 
another nearby was found to be in the way, and was 



318 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

ordered out. 'Idie stump of the first tree, four feet 
above the ground measured (i feet. 3 inches in diam- 
eter; of the second tree a trifle over (i feet . Such was 
the wastefulness of the day." 

As soon as Oscar returned he saw Anna forthwith. 
She was in a particularly pliant mood, and in response 
to his direct question if she would marry him, replied 
she would, and the couple boarded the train at \\'ar- 
ren for Buffalo City, where they were married. 

\\'hen Andrew McMeans came l)ack from his pro- 
tracted expedition they were already home from their 
honeymoon, and residing with the elder McXamors in 
the big brick house, overlooking the Bend. Andrew 
McMeans felt his jilting deeply; it was the first time 
that any real disappointment had come in the twent}'- 
one years of his life; he had imagined that, despite 
her predilection for W'ellendorf, he would yet win 
her, and his pride as well as his heart was lacerated. 
Outwardly he revealed little, l)ut inwardly a peculiar 
melancholy such as he had never felt before over- 
came him, and like Lincoln, after the death of Ann 
Rutledge, he realized that he must either "die or get 
better." 

Anna seemed happy enough in her new life, and 
liked to flaunt her devotion to Oscar whenever her 
rejected lover was about. Ordinarily this might have 
wounded him still deeper, l)ut he was al)sorbing fresh 
anxieties, reading Herbert Spencer, whose abominable 
agnosticism soon wrecked his faith, and bereft of love 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 319 

and the solace of immortality, he became the most 
wretched of men. 

It was five years after Anna's elopement, and when 
she was twentv'-one years old, that one morning she 
started for Endeavor to get the mail and make some 
purchases at the country store. It was a cold, raw 
day in the early spring, and the wild pigeons were 
flying. The beechwoods on both sides of the road 
were alive with gunners, old and young. Some one 
fired a shot which hurtled close to the nose of the 
old loan family horse, a track horse in his day, and 
he took the l)it in his teeth and ran away madly, with 
the bugg}' careening after him. Anna, standing up in 
the vehicle, was sawing on the lines until he crashed 
into a big ash tree and fractured the poor girl's skull. 
She was picked up by some of the hunters and carried 
home unconscious the next thing was to get the 
news to her husl)and. Oscar at that time had just 
finished a raft on West Hickory Creek, while his old 
time rival, McMeans. was completing one on East 
Hickory, which stream flowed into '"The Beautiful 
River", almost directly opposite to the West Hickory 
Run. 

About the moment that .\nna received her cruel 
death stroke, the two rafts were being launched simul- 
taneously, with much cheering on both banks, for par- 
tisanship ran high among dwellers on either side of 
the river. ^Members of the family hurried to the 
river side to watch for the Wellendorf raft, to "head 
him off" before it was too late. It was several hours 



320 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

after the accident when the two rival rafts, with the 
stahvart young pilots a the sterns, swept around the 
Bend, traveling "nip and tuck". It promised to be an 
evenly matched race, barring accidents, clear to Pitts- 
burg. The skippers of the contending yachts for the 
American Cup could not have been more enthused for 
their races than were Andrew Mc]\Ieans and Oscar 
Wellendorf. 

In front of the McNamor homestead several women 
were to be seen running up and down the grassy sward, 
frantially waving red and green shawls. What could 
they mean? They were so vehement that Oscar 
divined something was wrong, and steered ashore, fol- 
lowed by McMeans, who, noting the absence of Anna 
from the signaling part, feared that a mishap had 
befallen her. 

Both young men jumped ashore almost simultan- 
eously, leaving their rafts to their helpers. The worst 
had happened — Anna was in the house with a frac- 
tured skull, and the dotors said she could not live the 
night. If anything, McMeans turned the paler of 
the two. The men said little as they followed the 
women up the boardwalk to the house. 

That night McMeans, who asked to be allowed to 
remain until the outome of the case, for the river had 
lost its attractions, was sitting in the kitchen with 
Grandmother McClinton. The raw air had blown 
itself into a gale after sundown, and during the night 
the fierce wind Ijeat about the eaves and corners of the 
house like an avenging fury. The old tall clock, made 




JKSSK LOGAN. PENNSYLVANIA INDIAN CHIEF 

(l'h<>t<:>,'ru)>li Taken rJ15 b.v V. (". llo<ken»)erry) 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 321 

years before by John Vanderslice, of Reading, on 
top of which was a stuffed Colishay, or gray fox, with 
an uncommonly fine brush, was striking twelve. Amid 
the storm a wailing voice joined in the din, incessantly, 
so that there was no mistaking it, the Warning of the 
McClintons. 

The old grandmother watched McMeans face until 
she saw that he understood. Then she nodded to him. 
"It is strange how that thing has followed the McClin- 
ton family for hundreds of years. In Scotland it was 
their 'Caointeach', in Ireland their 'Banshee', in Penn- 
sylvania their 'Token' or 'Warning'. It never fails." 

As McMeans listened to the terril)le shrieks of 
anguish, which sometimes drowned the storm, he shiv- 
ered with pity for the lost soul out there in the cold, 
giving the death message, so melancholy and sad, and 
perhaps unwillingly. Anna lay upstairs in her room, 
facing the river, or windward side of the house, and 
the Warning was evidently somewhere below her win- 
dow, where the water in waves like the sea, was 
over-running the banks. 

On a kitchen chair still lay a red Paisley shawl that 
had been used to signal to \\'ellendorf earlier in the 
day. It seemed ample and warm. Picking it up, 
McAIeans went to the kitchen door, which he opened 
with some effort in the force of the gale, and, walking 
around the house, laid it on one of the benches at the 
front door, saying, "Put on this shawl, and come around 
to the leeward side of the house." 

When he returned, he said to Grandmother McClin- 



322 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

ton, "That Token's voice touched me somehow to- 
night. Something tells me she hated her task, is cold 
and miserable. I left the shawl on the front porch 
and told her to come out of the wind." 

After that they both noticed that the unliaj)])}- wail- 
ings ceased, there was nothing that vied with the storm. 

"Perhaps you have laid her," said Grandmother 
McClinton. "Anna may now pull through." 

But these words were barely out of her mouth, when 
Oscar Wellendorf, pale as a ghost, appeared in the 
kitchen to say that .\nna had just passed away. 
Andrew felt her death keenly, but he was also satis- 
fied that perhaps he had by an act of kindness, removed 
the Warning of the McClintons. He was more con- 
vinced when a year later Anna's father joined the 
majority, then her mother, with no visits from the 
mournful- voiced Warning. 

Five years more rolled around, and .Andrew 
McMeans, still unmarried, and cherishing steadfastly 
the memory of his beloved Anna, embarked his fleet 
for Pittsburg. It was a morning in the early spring, 
the air was soft and warm, and the shad flies were flit- 
ting about. He arrived in safety, but was some time 
collecting his money, as he was dealing with a scamp, 
and meanwhile put up at a boarding house on the river 
front, near the Hotel Boyer. The afternoon after his 
arrival he was sitting on the porch of his lodgings, gaz- 
ing out at the rushing, swirling river, which ran bank 
full, on a bench similar in all ways to the one on 
which he had laid the shawl to warm the freezing back 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 323 

of the Warning of the McChntons. Somehow he fell 
to thinking about that ghost, and its disappearance, and 
of Anna McNamor; how much he would give if only 
he could see her again. 

He recalled how the old grandmother had told him 
that some families married out of the Warning, while 
others married into it. much as he had heard was the 
case with the Assembly Ball in Philadelphia. The 
McClinton Warning had evidently clung to the female 
line, as it had been very much in evidence when Anna 
McNamor 's time had come. 

Something made him look up the street. Coming 
slowly towards him was a slender school girl, with a 
little green hat perched on her head, the living image 
of Anna, dead for five j^ears ! He almost fell off 
the bench in surprise, to note the same slim oval face, 
the aquiline features, and hazel eyes that he had known 
and loved so well. She paused for a moment in front 
of the house next door, holding her school books in her 
arms, while she looked out at the raging river. The 
spring breezes blowing her short skirts showed her slim 
legs encased in light brown worsted stockings. Then 
she went indoors. 

It did not take him long to seek his landlady and 
learn that she was a flesh and blood, sure enough girl, 
Anna Harbord by name, whose mother, widow of Mike 
Harbord. an old time riverman, also ran a boarding 
house. It was not many days before some errand 
brought the girl to the house where McMeans was stop- 



324 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

ping, and matters fortuitously adjusted themselves so 
that he met her. 

He was struck by her similarity to the dead girl, even 
the tones of her voice, and it seemed strange she should 
have such a counterpart. She appeared friendly dis- 
posed towards him from the start, and it was like a 
compensation sent after all his years of disappointment 
and loneliness. She was then sixteen years old, and 
must have been eleven when her "double" passed away. 

As their acquaintance grew into love, and all seemed 
so serene, as if it was to be, Andrew ]\IcAIeans grad- 
ually regaining his faith, human and divine, felt he 
owed his happiness to the Warning of the McClin tons', 
whose misery he had appeased by taking the cloak out 
to her. while engaged in her disagreeable duty of for- 
telling the coming dissolution of the unfortunate girl. 

]\Ic]\Ieans and Anna Harbord married. Thev decid- 
ed to remain in Pittsburg, and he became in a few 
years a successful and respected business man. 

If few persons liad been kind to ghosts, certainly 
he had profited by his interest in the welfare of the 
'Warning of the McClintons". The girl's mother in- 
formed him that in the early sjiring, a])out hve vears 
before, her daughter had been seized with a cataleptic 
attack, had laid for days unconscious, and when she 
came out of it, her entire personality, even the color of 
her eyes, had changed. Could it have been, the voung 
husband often thought, as he sat gazing at his bride 
with undisguised admiration, some act of the grateful 
"Warning." in sending Anna AlcXamor's st^ul to enter 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 325 

the body of this girl in Pittsburg, and reserving her for 
him, sate and sound from W'ellendorf and all harm, 
until his travels brought her across his path ! Human 
personality, he reasoned, is merely a means to an end. 
The unfinished life of .\nna McXamor could not go 
on, like a flower unfolding, until her fragrance had 
been spent on the one who needed it most. Then he 
would shudder at the idea that if the school girl, who 
stopped to look at the flooded river, had started on 
again, passing him by, never to see her again, lie 
would feel that he had been dreaming perhaps, until, 
touching his wife's soft creamy cheeks, would realize 
that she was actually there, and his. 

Through her his soul took on new light, and from a 
vigorous voung woodsman, he was slowly but surely 
passing into an intellectual existence. He had been 
strangely favored by the mainsprings of destiny, and 
why should he not give the world all that was best in 
him. Life, ruthless though it seems, has always com- 
pensations, and if we live rightly and truly, the debt 
will be owing us, whereas most of us through mistakes 
and misdeeds, have a great volume of retribution com- 
ing in an inevitable sequence. 



XXIW 

A Misunderstanding 

IT WAS the night before Christmas in the Httle 
mountain church near Wolfe's Store. The small, 
low-roofed, raftered chapel was illumined as bright- 
ly as coal oil lamps in the early stage of their develop- 
ment could do it ; a hemlock tree, decked out with can- 
dles and tinsel stood to one side of the altar, an almost 
red-hot ten-plate stove on the other, while the chancel 
and rafters were twined and garlanded with ground 
pine and ilex, or winter berries. In one of the rear 
pews sat a very good looking young couple, a for- 
mer school teacher revisiting the valley, and his favorite 
pupil. Lambert Girtin and Elsie Vanneman were their 
names. 

The young man, who was a veteran of the Civil War, 
possessed the right to wear the Congressional medal, 
and while teaching at the little red school house on the 
pike near the road leading to Gramley's Gap, had no- 
ticed and admired the fair Elsie, so different from the 
rest of his flock. She was the daughter of a prosperous 
lumberman, a jobber in hardwoods, and her mother 
was above the average in intelligence and breeding, yet 
Elsie in all ways transcended even her parents. 

She had seemed like a mere child when he left her at 
the close of the term the previous Christmas, but he 
could not evict her image from his soul. It was mainly 

326 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 327 

to see her, though he would have admitted this to no 
one, that induced him to revisit the remote valley during 
the following holiday season. The long drive in the 
stage through drifted roads had seemed nothing to him. 
he was so elated at the thought of reviving old mem- 
ories at the sight of this most beloved of pupils. 

In order not to arouse any one's suspicions, he did no 
more than to inquire how she was at the general store 
and l:)oarding house where he stopped. 

"You would never know her," exclaimed old ^lother 
Wolfe, the landlady. "Why. she's a regular young 
lady, grown a head taller," making a gesture with her 
hand to denote her increased stature. 

On Christmas Eve there was to be the usual enter- 
tainment at the Union Church, and Lambert Girtin 
posted himself outside the entrance to wait for the ob- 
ject of his dreams. The snow was drifted deep, and it 
was bitterly cold, yet social events were so rare in the 
mountains that almost every one braved the icy blasts 
to be present. It was not long before he was rewarded 
by a sight of Elsie Vanneman. It was remarkable how 
tall she'd grown! As he expressed it to himself. "An 
opening l)ud became a rose full-blown" in one short 
year ! 

She of course recognized him, and greeted him 
warmly, and they entered the church together. Inside 
by the lamplight he had a better chance to study her 
appearance more in detail than by the cold starlight on 
the church steps. She had grown until she was above 
the middle height, vet had literally taken her figure and 



328 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

her grace with her. She was slender, yet shapely, 
claim V and graceful in the extreme. Her violet eyes 
were even more deeply pensive than of yore, her cheeks 
were pink and white, her lips red and slightly full. Her 
hair was a golden or coppery hrown. and shone like 
those precious metals in the reflected light of the lamps 
and the stove ; the slight upward turn of her nose still 
remained. 

How demure, earnest and sincere she was ! In the 
intervening year he had never seen her like in Belle- 
fonte, Altoona or Pittsburg. She seemed to be happy 
to be with him again, minus the restraint existing be- 
tween a pupil and teacher. Instinctively their fingers 
touched, and they held hands during most of the even- 
ing. 

Towards the end of the sermon, which was long and 
loud, and gave the young couple plenty of opportunity 
to advance their love making unnoticed, Girtin whis- 
pered to her: "Have you an escort home, dear Elsie?" 

The answer was a hesitating "Yes." 

The young man felt his heart give a jolt, then al- 
most stop throbbing, and an instant hatred of some un- 
known rival made his blood boil furiously. How could 
she act that way? She had, even as his pupil, been 
indiiTerent to all of the opposite sex except him, and 
during the period of their separation her sprightly 
letters had borne evidence of tender sentiments, to the 
utter exclusion of all others. Had he not believed in 
her, he would not have taken that long journey back 
into the mountains, that many might have been glad to 
quit for good. Her beauty and her grace had haunted 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 329 

him, and he had determined to wed her, until this sign 
of duphcity had been sprmig on him. Of course she 
did not know he was coming, and had made the fatal 
arrangements before; yet, if she cared for him as he 
did for her, she would not be making engagements with 
the boys, especially at her tender age. 

He tried to console himself by noticing a shade of 
regret flit over her blushing face after she said the 
fateful words, but until the close of services he was ill 
at ease and scarcely opened his mouth. At the benedic- 
tion he managed to stammer "Good evening," and was 
out of the church in the frosty starlight night before 
any one else. 

With long strides he walked up the snowy road ahead 
of the crowd who had followed him. The sky was very 
clear, and the North Star,"The Three Kings," or Jacob's 
Rake, Job's Coffin, and other familiar constellations, 
were glimmering on the drifted snow. Instead of ob- 
serving the stars, had he looked back he would have 
seen that the "escort" she referred to was none other 
than a girl friend, Katie Moyer, and both, Elsie in 
particular, would have been only too happy to have a 
sturdy male companion to see them through the snow 
banks. 

As a result of his disappearance, Elsie was as un- 
happy and silent as Girtin had been, as she floundered 
about in the drifts. Despite her gentle, sunny nature, 
she was decidedly out of sorts when she reached home 
at the big white house near the Salt Spring. She gave 
monosyllabic answers to her parents in response to 



330 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

their queries as to how she had enjoyed the long-looked 
for Christmas entertainment. She did not sleep at all 
that night, but tossed about the bed, keeping her friend 
awake, and on Christmas Day was in a rebellious mood. 
Her mother reminded her how ungrateful she was to be 
so tearful and sullen in the face of so many blessings 
and gifts. 

There was no stage or sleigh out of the valley on 
Christmas Day, else Girtin would have departed. He 
moped about all day, telling those who asked the matter 
that he was ill. Elsie, knowing that he was still in the 
valley, hoped up to Itedtime that he would at least come 
to pay her a l)ricf Christmas call, but supper over, and 
no signs of him. she was uncivil to her mother to such 
a degree that her friend openly said that she was 
a«^hamed of her. 

Though Katie and she were rooming together, it did 
not deter her mother, goaded l)y the remarks of the 
yoinigcr cliildren to visit her room while they were 
undressing, saying "that she deserved a good dose of 
the gad." and, ordering her to lay face downward on 
the bed, administered a :^ood. old-fashioned spanking 
with the flax-paddle. .V'fter this hmnilialing chastise- 
ment in the presence of her friend, the unhappy g-'rl 
cried and sobbed until morning. 

It was a wretched ending for what might have been 
a memorable Christmas for Lambert Girtin and Elsir; 
\'anneman. 

The next morning the young man managed to hire a 
cutter and was driven to Belle fonte, leaving the valley 
with deep regrets. Through friends in the valley he 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 331 

learned afterwards that Elsie had gone as a missionary 
to China. 

Life ran smoothly in some ways for Laml)ert Girtin, 
for he hecame uniformly successful as a husiness man. 
The oil excitement was at its height, a,nd he was sent 
by a large general supply house in Pittsburg to open a 
store in Pithole City, ''the Alagic City," to the success 
of which he contributed so much that he was given an 
interest in the concern. 

At heart he was not happy. He could never focus 
his attentions on any woman for long, as in the back- 
ground he always saw the slender form, the l)lushing 
face, the pansy-like eyes and the copper-l)rown. wavy 
hair of his mountain sweetheart, Elsie Vanneman. Her 
loveliness haunted him, and all others paled beside her. 
He was in easy circumstances to marry ; friends less 
opulent were taking wives and building showy homes 
with Mansard roofs, along the outskirts of the muddy 
main thoroughfare of Pithole City, where landscape 
gardening often consisted of charred, blackened pine 
stumps and abandoned oil derricks. 

Sometimes, in his spirtual loneliness, he betook him- 
self to strange companions. One of these was a Chi- 
nese laundry man, a prototype of Bret Harte's then pop- 
ular "Heathen Chinee," who seemed to be a learned 
individual, despite his odd appearance. Girtin. who 
had read of the exploits of the Fox sisters and othe"- 
exponents of early spiritualism, was unprepared for 
the learning and insight possessed by this undistin- 
guished Celestial. 



332 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

Drawn to hiin at first because he could possibly tell 
about conditions in China, where Elsie was supposed 
to be, he became gradually more and more absorjjed by 
the laundryman's philoso^ihic speculations. The fellow 
confided at length that he was married, and had five 
children at Tien-Tsin, to whom he was deeply attached. 
He would have died of a broken heart to be so far away 
from them but for the power he had developed by con- 
centrating on the image of his native mountains, which 
yearning was reciprocated, and at night he claimed that 
his spirit was drawn out of his body and "hopped" half 
the span of the globe to the side of his loved ones. 
There must be something after all in the old Scotch 
quotation, "Oh, for my strength, once more to see the 
hills." 

Girtin expressed a strong desire to be initiated into 
these compelling mysteries., In order to cultivate his 
psychic sense, the Chinaman induced him to smoke 
opium, which, while repellent to Girtin, he undertook 
in order to reach his desired object. If he had been a 
man of any mental equilibrium, he would have secured 
a leave of absence from Inisiness and gone to China and 
claimed the fair Elsie, if she was still unmarried. He 
would not do that because he was still tortured by the 
memory of her preferring another at the moment when 
his hopes had been highest, yet he wanted to see her, 
hoping that he could do so without her knowing it. 

The results attained were beyond his expectations. 
He quickly mastered his soul and "hopped" to the 
interior of China. Elsie was there, surrounded l)v her 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 333 

classes ; at twenty-one more wondrously lovely and 
beautiful than when he had parted from her that frosty 
night, with the Dipper and Jacob's Rake shining so 
clearly in the heavens. 

Though there were many missionaries and foreign 
officials who would have courted her, her dignity and 
quiet reserve were impenetrable. Was she so because 
of the love for the youth who was to escort her home 
from church that night, or did she cherish the memory 
of her whilom schoolmaster admirer? These were the 
thoughts that annoyed him by day, the "hang over" of 
his spiritual adventures at night. 

The opium and the intense mental concentration 
were taking a lot out of him. He became sallow and 
irritable, and neglected many business opportunities. 
One of the head partners of the firm in Pittsburg was 
going to Pithole City "to have it out with him." as the 
mountain folks would say. Before he could reach the 
scene word was telegraphed that Lambert Girtin, 
frightfully altered in appearance, was found dead one 
morning in a Inmk back of the Charley Wah Laundry 
at Pithole. 

He had no relatives in the town, and his sisters, who 
could not come on, telegraphed to bury him in the new 
Mount Moriah Cemetery, now all overgrown and 
abandoned, like Pithole itself ! There could be no 
doubt as to his death, as Bill Brewer, just coming into 
fame as the "Hick Preacher." officiated at the obse- 
quies. So Lambert Girtin was quickly forgotten in 
most all quarters. If he was remembered for a time, 



334 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

it was in the remote valle}- in which he had taught 
school, and where news of his early demise occasioned 
profound regret. 

Years passsed, and Elsie Vamieman, after giving 
some of the best years of her life to missionary activi- 
ties in various parts of China, resigned her position, in 
consequence of a shattered nervous system, caused by 
overwork during a great earthquake, where she minis- 
tered to thousands of refugees, and started for home. 
Her parents had died while she was in the "Celestial 
Kingdom." but she had a number of brothers and 
sisters who were glad to welcome her, and with whom 
she planned a round of visits. 

She was only thirty when she returned, a trifle paler 
and a few small lines around her mouth, but otherwise 
a picture of saintliness and loveliness. One of the first 
bits of news she heard on reaching the valley was of the 
ignominious end of Lambert Girtin in a Chinese laun- 
dryman's shack — "a promising career cut short," all 
allowed. 

It was shocking to Elsie, as she had dreamed of this 
young man nearly every night from a certain period of 
her stay in China. She was on the street during the 
great quake, and as the earth cracked and swallowed 
countless victims, she fancied she saw a European, the 
counterpart of Girtin. plunged into the deadly abyss. 
She had come home with the intention of learning 
definite news of him, and if he was not the earthquake 
victim, and still lived, perhaps to renew their old-time 
interests. 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 335 

She had been so upset by his failure to call, or even 
to write, after the Christmas eve at the little country 
church, that she had never communicated with him 
again. Her dreams had been most vividly realistic, 
as if he had been really near to her in China, and she 
could not make herself believe that he was dead in 
Pithole City, Pennsylvania. 

Owing to this piece of bad news, she did not remain 
as long in the valley as she had planned, and almost 
from the day of her arrival had pined to be l)ack in the 
Far East. The valley seemed dull, anyway ; saw-mills 
were making it as treeless as China; she hated to see 
Luther Guisewhite destroy those giant original white 
pines, which reared their black-topped spiral heads 
along the foot of the mountains on the winter side ; the 
wild pigeons no longer darkened the sky with their 
impressive flights, the flying squirrels were being shot 
out in Fulmer's Sink, near her old home ; her parents 
were gone — everything was different. 

Unsettled and dissatisfied, especially after a visit to 
the girl who had accompanied her home on the eventful 
Christmas Eve, now the mother of eight handsome 
children, she decided to return to China. The vast 
herds of buffaloes that had impeded the progress of 
her train on her first journey westward were gone. The 
Indians who occasionall}' furnished a touch of color to 
the prairie landscape, likewise had disappeared. Civi- 
lization was spreading through the Great West. 

She timed her arrival in San Francisco so as to be 
there shortly after the arival of a ship from China, so 



B36 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

as to go back on its return journey. She would have 
several days to wait in the City of the Golden Gate, 
but it was quaint and picturesque, the time would pass 
quickly. 

One evening — she was not afraid, as she knew the 
language and customs of the Celestials — she decided to 
take a stroll through the famous Chinese Quarter. As 
she was walking along, her head down, her mind ab- 
stracted and noticing little, some one touched her on the 
arm. Looking around, as if to resent a familiarity, to 
her bewilderment she beheld her long-lost friend, Lam- 
bert Girtin. 

"Lambert Girtin!" she said, in amazed tones. 

"Elsie Vanneman — it is surely you?" he replied. 

"Of all people, after all these years ! I had been 
hearing that you died five years ago in the oil regions 
somewhere ; what arc you doing ?" 

The ex-schoolmaster took hold of both of her 
hands, there in the crowded, moving throngs of China- 
town, saying: "I came in from China today, after 
what I thought was a hopeless search for you. Years 
ago, after our separation, a Chinaman showed me how 
to visit China in my dreams, and ])e close to you. It 
took a whole lot of mental concentration, was pulling 
me down physically. I kept it up too long, for one 
night 1 dreamed I was in a tcrri])le earthquake. It was 
so vivid that my physical as well as my spiritual ])eing 
was translated to China, and I found myself there pen- 
niless. But. search as I may, I could not find you. If 
I died in the oil regions, it must have been another 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 337 

physical self, shed as a snake does his skin, for the 
Lambert Girtin who stands before you is fully alive. 
and resolved never to part from you again." 

Old memories came to Elsie Vanneman. conquering 
her fears, and her face flushed as in schoolgirl days : 
"You speak of our 'separation' — pray, tell me more 
about it ; why did you leave me so abruptly and run 
away that Christmas Eve after meeting? I could never 
understand why you did not even come to wish me a 
'Merry Christmas' the next day. Why didn't you ever 
write me a line? What did I do to merit such neglect?" 

"What did you do ?" replied Girtin, drawing her aside 
from the passing stream of pig-tailed humanity into a 
shadowy doorway. "It doesn't seem very serious now, 
but it hurt me a whole lot at the time. You told me you 
had an engagement with some one to see you in from 
church, and I was angry and jealous, for I had been 
imagining that your thoughts had only been of me, 
that you cared for no one else." 

"I had an engagement with some one. that is true, 
but only a girl friend, Katie AToyer, who came and 
spent the night with me," replied the girl with alacrity. 

Girtin turned as pale as death ; his sufferings, mental 
and physical, his wanderings, physical and actual, his 
wasted years, all had been caused by a misunderstanding. 
He was at a loss for words for some time, but he held 
on to Elsie's hands, looking into her beautiful, ethereal 
face, the vari-colored light of a Chinese lantern shining 
down on her coppery-gold hair. 

"Do vou care for me at all, now^" he said, al length. 



338 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

"Yes, I think I do ; I must, or I would not have 
came back all the way from China to hunt yon," she 
answered. 

"Then wc have both suffered." he said, sadly. "What 
shall we do now?" 

"Let us return to the Pennsylvania ^lountains. where 
we both belon<^; it is home," she said. 

"That's where I want to go," he replied, "if I can 
ever live down that dying story in Pithole City." 

"( )f course you can,", said Elsie. "There was a case 
in our valley of a soldier reported as killed at Gettys- 
burg; they sent his body home, began paying his widow 
a pension ; she married a former sweetheart, and then, 
worse than 'Enoch Arden,' he appeared as if from the 
grave. He had no explanations to make, and our moun- 
tain i)eople asked no questions, all having faith in super- 
natural things. Neither will I ask any of you. I have 
seen too much in the east to make me disbelieve any- 
thing, or that we can die two or three times under stress 
of circumstances, shedding our physical selves — to use 
our words — as snakes do their skins. I am only 
happy I did not marry some one else, as I was tempted 
to do when I imagined you were engulfed in the earth- 
quake." 

That night in Chinatown for once a misunderstand- 
ing ended happily. 



XXV. 

A Haunted House 

WHEN Billy Cloyd prospered in the luml)er and 
milling business, he determined to erect a man- 
sion overlooking the arrowy waters of the 
Sinnemahoning that would reflect not only his success, 
but the social status of his family as well. Accordingly 
Williamsport architects who made a specialty of erect- 
ing houses for the wealthy lumbermen of that commu- 
nity were commissioned to prepare plans for what was 
to be the grandest private dwelling on the outposts of 
civilization, a structure which would outdo the already 
famous club house built for the use of the stockholders 
of the Philadelphia Land Company at Snow Shoe, or 
the offices of the agents of the Queen of Spain at 
Reveltown and Scootac. 

The result was a large, square house, along Colonial 
lines, with a spacious doorway, above which was a 
transom of antique colored glass brought all the way 
from the home of one of his ancestors at Old Carlisle. 
Windows were numerous, commanding views up and 
down the beautiful, billowy stream, then teeming with 
fish and acpatic bird life. 

The surrounding mountains were covered with virgin 
pine forests, while the great hemlocks, oaks and birches 
hung over the water's edge. There was a clearing in 
which the mansion stood, the chief feature of which 

339 



340 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

was an old-fashioned garden of carefully laid design, 
with plenty of columbine, called by the mountain folks 
"church bells," and eglantine, with boxwoods from the 
"Quaker City," purchased from the heirs of "Eagles- 
field." 

The dark forest came lo the back of the garden, and 
stood black in the gorge of Mill Creek near the pro- 
jected flouring and fulling mills, to the east of the 
mansion; the ever-busy saw-mill, the chief symbol of 
the prosperity of Castlecloyd, as the domain was called, 
was situated near the mouth of the creek. There was 
barely a distance of two hundred yards from the sloping 
banks of the Sinnemahoning to where the forest and 
the steep mountains began, consequently the mansion, 
mills, workshops, stables and mill hands' and woods- 
men's houses were all close together. 

Along the water's edge carpenters were steadily at 
work building arks and flats which carried the products 
of the mills to the terminus of the railroad at Lock 
Haven, or to Sunbury or Harrisburg. 

Now all is changed. The view from the portico and 
the lawn of Castlecloyd is upon a stream flowing with a 
liquid the color and texture of ink. frowning with fine 
yellow bubbles; not a living fish has been seen, accord- 
ing to the present occupant of the premises, the vener- 
able Seth Nelson, Jr., since 1899, when the paper mill 
at Austin sent down its first installment of vile pollu- 
tion. Then the fish leaped on the shore in frightful 
agony, dying out of water, but awny from the insidious 
poisoning of the acids. 

The water birds are gone; thev cannot drink the 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 341 

polluted water, and give the region a wide berth. In- 
stead of cooling zephyrs, when the wind blows off the 
creek towards the house, there comes a stench worse 
than a week-old battlefield in Flanders. 

No forests of virgin timber are to be seen, if you 
strain your eyes looking up or down stream, nothing 
but charred, brown wastes, the aftermath of killing 
forest fires which followed the lumbering operations. 
Here and there on some inaccessible cliff a lone original 
white pine or hemlock has its eyrie, but even there the 
fires are finding them, and they are all scorched and 
shaky at the butts, and go down easily in sharp gales. 
Altar Rock, famed in song and story, still has one pine 
standing on its top, but it is dead, and will soon share 
the fate of its mate, which was blown down over twenty 
years ago. 

The entire scene is one of loneliness and desolation, 
yet a quiet, peaceful home for the octogenarian hunter 
Nelson and his devoted and equally aged sister. How 
different all this from what it was in the hey-day of 
prosperous Billy Cloyd ! The hum of the mills, the 
busy teams of horses and ox-spans bringing in the logs, 
the carpenters and boatmen, the large family of the 
successful woodsman, their guests, and the hunters and 
surveyors who often made the house their headquarters. 

It was at the time that the line of the Sunbury and 
Erie Railroad was being surveyed from Rattlesnake, 
now Whetham, to Erie, and one surveying crew was 
quartered at Castlecloyd. A few weeks earlier Dr. 
J. T. Rothrock had stopped there, but was now further 



342 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

west, camping with Mike Long, the wolf hunter, in the 
midst of a great deer and pigeon country in Elk County. 

Those were days of reckless waste of our natural 
resources, according to the good Doctor. One of the 
surveyors, so as not to have to curve his line, ordered 
that three giant original white pines be cut. All the 
stumps were measured by Dr. Rothrock and averaged 
considerably over six feet in diameter. They were, of 
course, left to rot in the woods, thousands of feet of 
lumber of priceless value today ! 

Philip L. Webster, who died a few years ago in Lit- 
tletown, now Bradford, was also a member of one of 
these surveying parties on Elk Creek, a branch of the 
Clarion River ; on one occasion he saw four elks to- 
gether, in a swale. 

As "Buffalo Bill" had jjeen the professional hunter 
for the Northern Pacific engineering crews. Jim Jacoljs, 
"The Seneca Bear Hunter," was attached to Mr. Web- 
ster's organization in the same capacity. Instead of 
bison roasts, Jacobs was to furnish fresh elk steaks, 
and he kept the surveyors, axmen and chain-carriers 
supplied witli plenty of it all summer long. 

The meml)ers of the party billeted at Castlecloyd 
were composed of young Philadelphia gentlemen, sons 
of prospective stockholders in tlic new railroad, finely 
educated, traveled youths, whose love of adventure had 
been fired by the deeds of their colleagues, the Brothers 
Kane. One of them stood out more brilliantl\- than 
the rest for his scholarly attainments and poetic nature. 
He was young Wayne Stewardson, scion of a distin- 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 343 

guished Quaker house of that name, and probably con- 
nected with the family who owned the lands on Kettle 
Creek, once occupied by Ole Bull. 

The young man had been educated at the university 
in his native city, and in Europe His early upbringing 
had been in great cities, and his sentimental tastes came 
out in a peculiar admiration of spires, chimneys, 
towers, stacks, vanes, arched roofs, corbels and crock- 
ets. He would wander for hours just at evenmg watch- 
ing the skyline in the changing light, peopling the grow- 
ing shadows with all manner of grotesque shapes and 
chimeras. His love of shadowland was so great that he 
fell naturally to cutting charming silhouettes of his 
friends, his likeness of the lovelorn and ill-fated Dr. 
E. K. Kane being highly prized. 

His visit to the Sinnemahoning Country was his first 
induction into the heart of nature, and his admiraiton 
of man's handicraft as exemplified in minarets and 
high gables softened to a deep reverence for the spiral, 
columnar forms of the giant pines as they serrated the 
skyline of the Allegheny summits. 

There was a bench between two red maple trees, on 
the bank of the Sinnemahoning, just in front of Castle- 
cloyd, where he would sit after supper, watching the 
crimson sunset reflected in the stream, with the dusky 
shapes of the ancient trees athwart, and the sky gradu- 
ally becoming less of rose and more of mother-of-pearl, 
behind the sentinel pines on the comb of the mountains 
beyond Birch Island. It was more beautiful than any- 



344 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

thing he had ever seen in cities, in its sheer ferocious 
wildness. 

One evening, on hearing a woman's voice humming 
an old tune, he looked around, beholding Cloyd's pretty 
daughter sitting, watching the afterglow from the portal 
of the classic doorway. Her knees were crossed, re- 
vealing pretty, plump little legs, encased in blue cotton 
stockings. His first thought at seeing her was to recall 
Poe's youthful lines, "Helen Thy Beauty is to Me." 
Previously he had not noticed her much, except that 
she seemed more than ordinarily good-looking and 
refined, for the drudge's life she was living. Now 
that, like himself, she was a person who took notice of 
her surroundings, she must be different, he thought, 
and have a soul more in keeping with her lovely ap- 
pearance. 

When she saw that he had ()l)serve(l her. instead of 
jumping up and running into the house and slamming 
the door, like some crude backwoods girl might have 
done, she came forward and stood leaning against one 
of the red maples, and chatted pleasantly about the 
wonderful scenery. 

It was a blissful experience for Stewardson, and as 
he had hardly spoken to a girl for a month, was in a 
particularly susceptible mood. He studied her appear- 
ance minutely. She was probably a trifle under the 
middle height, very delicately made, with chestnut hair 
and eyes of wondrous golden amber. Her skin was 
transparently white, and the delicate peach-blow color in 
her cheeks was too hectic to betoken good health. But 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 345 

the outstanding feature was the nose, the most beautiful 
nose he had ever seen, the Ijridge slightly aquiline, yet 
a sudden shortness at the tip that transcended the 
retrousse. She was modest and simple, reticence being 
her chief trait, as she told about the deer which often 
took harbor in the stream, in front of where they were, 
when pursued by dogs. 

She said that she had been christened ]\Iarie Asterie, 
but was generally called by her second name, though the 
first was shorter and easier to pronounce. 

Just as they were becoming nicely acquainted, a 
young woodsman, whom she introduced as Oscar Garis, 
put in an appearance, and the two walked away to- 
gether, leaving Stewardson still meditating pn the 
bench. Evidently they were lovers, thought the young 
surveyor, and when he looked out on Sinnemahoning, 
the light was gone — the water ran dark and menacing. 

Though he had noticed the girl's unusual nose the 
first time he saw her, he had 1jeen too busy to become 
well acquainted, but he recalled that she occupied a 
small interior room, just off where he slept, in the 
second-floor lobby. He had seen her go upstairs to 
retire every night, but proximity had meant nothing to 
him, so deeply had he been imbued with ideas of class. 
Tonight it would be different. 

He walked around a while longer, watching the bats 
flit hither and thither, and listening to the plaintive 
calling of the whippoorwills, then he went indoors and 
joined his fellow surveyors in the lobby. He kept 
watching the clock and watching the door for Asterie to 



346 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

return, amusing himself trying to cut her marvellous 
profile, the like of which King Henry \'III or King 
Arthur may have admired, for she was evidently a 
"throw back" to some archaic type. It was always the 
rule for the men to remain downstairs until the women 
had retired, and on this occasion they were all yawning 
but Stewardson, waiting for Asterie, who was the last 
to come in, close to ten o'clock. 

Garis seemed indilTerent to her, but it was the negli- 
gence of bad manners rather than lack of interest. 
This gave Stewardson a chance to light her fat lamp 
for her, and she closed the door and went upstairs. 
When the young surveyor and his companion ascended 
the stairs, he noted the rays of light from her room, 
streaming from the crack beneath her door. That night 
after the lights were out, and his friends asleep, he 
drew his mattress nearly to her door, repeating to 
himself the lines of Horace's Ode X, in Book HI: 

"O Lyce, didst thou like Tanais. 
Wed to some savage, what a pity 'tis 
For me to lie on such a night as this 

Before your door. 
My feet exposed where hauntinu' north winds luss, 
And angry roar." 

The concluding lines of which were : 

"O thou as hard as oak no storm can break, 
As pitiless as Mauritanian snake. 
Not thus forever can I lie and (juake. 

Nor thus remain 
Before thy threshold, for thy love's sweet sake, 
Soaked by the rain." 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 347 

But it wasn't a terrible night, only a fairly chilly 
one in early June, with all the stars out, and Asterie's 
worst offense was that she was "keeping company" 
with another ! 

The young man could not sleep all night and wond- 
ered if the girl was similarly afflicted, as the light con- 
tinued to burn ; or maybe she was only like many moun- 
tain people, and slept with a night-light, for no sound 
came from her tiny apartment. After that night his 
pleasures at Castlecloyd were ended. He loved the fair 
and fragile girl, whom he hated to see working so hard, 
so patient and so misunderstood. He dreaded the 
thought of her inevitable marriage to Garis, a rough, 
common fellow of no refinement. He could not think 
of courting her himself as his family had never in ten 
generations been declasse. There was nothing to do 
but to sigh in vain, and watch that light coming from 
beneath her door. And on nights when the wind 
howled, and the rain beat about the roof, or some par- 
ticularly hard gust sent a few cold drops pattering 
through a crack in the shingles, on his face, he found 
consolation by reciting to himself the lament of Horace 
in his Ode X. But he did present her with her silhou- 
ette, which she blushingly accepted, and on several oc- 
casions when she sang at the organ, complimented her 
on her sweet contralto voice. 

In the autumn when the red ma]:)les had cast the last 
of their leaves, and the pines and hemlocks looked the 
blacker in contrast, Stewardson's particular work was 
done, and he prepared to return to Philadelphia. John 



348 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

Smoke, aged Seneca, professional hunter of the outlit, 
agreed to take liini and one of bis chums to Rattlesnake 
in a birchbark canoe. Seth Iredell Xelscjn, another 
hunter, would take two more of the young men in an- 
other canoe. Asterie was on the leaf-strewn l)ank to 
see them depart, dressed in her best pink denham frock, 
and cherry colored peach-basket straw bonnet. It 
made him resentful to watch Garis put his arm on her 
shoulder as the canoes shoved away, to the tune of old 
Smoke's Seneca chant. 

ililly Cloyd himself was not ])resent ; he excused 
himself as not feeling well, and went upstairs shortly 
after breakfast. On the journey old Smoke contitled 
to his passengers the cause of the landlord's Ixickward 
conduct. A black calf had been born the night before; 
whenever one appeared in the family it brouglit bad 
luck ; that had been a belief with Cloyd's people e\en 
in the remote days when they Ii\ed in the "old 
cotintry."' 

Then the aged Indian told the legend of how the 
redmen came to the American continent. Thev had 
been driven eastward by famines until they came to a 
great sea, across which they found a narrow strip of 
land, whicli they crossed. They came to a counfy 
teeming with game, and made themselves at home, 
wandering great distances to enjoy the chase antl visit 
the natural wonders. 

Later they decided to revisit their old home, but the 
sea had washed over the stri]> of land, and their canoes 
were not stout enough to breast the ans-rv waves. 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 349 

Stewardson listened to this and other old tales in a 
half-abstracted way ; liis thoughts were hack with 
Asterie Cloyd ; she with that wonderful, impossible- 
to-silhouette nose, her sweet voice, and quiet, restful 
manner. He did not marry any of the stately Junoes- 
que beauties whom he knew, upon returning to Phila- 
delphia, but became critical of the fair sex, and shunned 
their company whenever possible. About two years 
later the Civil War broke out, and being intimately 
acquainted with the Kane family, he hurried to Har- 
risburg, and the genial "Colonel Tom" gave him a 
commission in his 1st Rifle Regiment, soon to win 
deathless fame under the name of "Ilucktails." 

One evening in camp Colonel Kane and Captain 
Stewardson were sitting before their tents, stroking 
their long fair beards, for it was the aim of every 
young soldier to be the most shaggily hirsute. The 
Colonel was telling of his memorable trip on rafts 
from ]\lcKean County to Harrisburg with his recruits 
and how he spent a night with a man named Garis, 
who had acted like a copperhead, and though an ex- 
pert rifleman, declined to enlist. "Yet he had ample 
cause to be out of sorts" continued the Colonel, "lie 
had lately buried his wife, who, from all accounts, 
was an exceptionally pretty girl, one of Billy Cl(\vd's 
daughters." 

If he had watched Stewardson's face carefully, be 
would have seen it growing paler, even in the cani])- 
fire's ruddy glow, beneath that mighty beard. 

"Clovd, who before the girl's marriage, had lost 



350 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

his wife." continued Colonel Kane, "went up Ben- 
nett's ['.ranch, to take out spars, and started to clear 
a farm (ni the mountain top, and build an even more 
ambitious mansion. Garis told me that the old man 
had recently sold the whole property, including the 
timber, to William H. Dodge of Xew York, who in- 
tends naming it after the President, the 'Lincoln 
Farm', and using it for a private summer resort." 

Captain Stewardson did not care to hear more ; as 
soon as he could consistently excuse himself from his 
commanding officer, he did so, and wandered off 
among the pines, inwardly moaning. 

In the early part of 1864, as the result of wounds, 
he was given an indefinite sick leave, but instead of 
going home, he resolved to visit Asterie's grave. 

The railroad was completed to Renovo, and tne 
ties were down, ready for the rails, almost to Erie. 
A mail carrier on horseback travelled from Renovo 
to the backwoods settlements of Sinnemahoning and 
Driftwood, and hiring an extra horse, the now Major 
Stewardson arranged to accompany him. They had 
not ridden far through the snowy road when the mail 
man. W'allis Cakle. Ijegan telling about the 1 Taunted 
House, iJilly Cloyd's old place that they would pass. 
"Nobody's lived there," he said, "since Oscar Garis 
moved out in the summer of '(il. after l)ui'\ing that 
pretty wife of iiis. They say he worked her to death, 
making her do all the cooking for all the lumber and 
mill crews, and was always after her to do more; he 
literally hounded the \m)c.v little child to death." 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 351 

'J'hcn he went on lo tell how towards nightfall [)eo- 
ple were afraid to go past the deserted house for ine 
awful screaming and yelling, like a woman in tor- 
ment, that came from the upper rooms. Travellers 
never went on that side of the creek, unless in parties 
of four or five together, preferring to follow the 
right-of-way of the railroad across the creek, but 
even there they could hear the shrieks and moaning. 
Some were even hinting that Garis, who had gone to 
live with his late father-in-law on the Clarion, h.ad 
in a tit of temper murdered his wife. At th.e time it 
was said that she had died of lung trouble. 

All this was interesting to the young soldier, and 
he next inquired where the poor girl was buried. 

"She's lying on the hillside, overlooking the meet- 
ing of the First Fork and the Driftwood Hranch, a 
beautiful spot, but it's cold and bleak under the pines 
when the country is covered with snow." 

Just beyond the present town of Westport, ("iakle 
and Stewardson fell in with two hunters tramping 
along on snowshoes with their dogs, headed for rhe 
panther country. They were the veteran X'inu'od 
Jake Hamersley and a young hunter named Art. 
Vallon. 

"Glad to meet you, gentlemen," said old Jake, half 
joking; "we wanted a little bolstering up before pass- 
ing the haunted house." 

"Well, it is terrible." said Gakle, "I am never afraiil, 
but mv horse rears like one of the deil's own buckies 
when he hears those dreadful .screams. I always try 



352 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

to get by before dark, for ibey say the racket is a lol 
worse after sundown." 

As the party wended its way along the narrow trail 
by the river's edge, all manner of hunting and ghost 
stories were recounted. All were in an eerie frame 
of mind, as with the rays of the setting sun sh.ining 
in their faces, they neared the deserted Castlecloyd. 
O'he deep woods screened the clearings and gardens, 
but long before they came in view a melancholy wail- 
ing, like a woman tortured by fiends, echoed through 
the aisles of the primeval forest. 

"I guess we'll have to face il," said tlie mail car- 
rier, "but four man sized men, and a like number of 
varmint hounds ought to be able to 'rassle' any spook." 

As the}' neared llic house, the setting sun tinted to 
the brilliancy of the stained glass of some mediaeval 
cathedral the vari-colored lights above the classic 
portal. They noticed that the door stood o])en. From 
an ui)per room came the doleful groans and lamenta- 
tions. 

"What's those tracks?" said the keen-eyed young 
^'all(Jn, who had run on ahead with the dogs. 

Coming up the bank from the ice-bound Sinncma- 
honing, crossing the trail, and entering the mansi()n 
by the front door, were huge round footmarks like 
these of some mamn^.oth 'at. "I'ainter. painter" they 
all cried, as they looked at them, wliile the dogs, know- 
ing well the ferocity of the Penn^ylwinia l-ion. slunk 
about their master's feet. 

All wanted to go indoors, and ud one cared to mmd 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 353 

the horses. 'J'hey tied the jaded beasts to the red 
maple trees, on either side of Major Stewardson's 
one-time favorite resting place. Gakle had an old- 
time, tiint-lock horse pistol that had been carried by 
David Lewis, the Robber, when he was wounded on 
the First Fork ; Stewardson had his army pistol, while 
the two hunters had their flint-lock Lancaster rifles. 

They followed the tracks into the lobby, and by 
the snow and mud left on the floor, to the staircase, 
which they ascended. Stewardson's eyes fell on the 
green-painted door of the little room once occupied 
by his beloved, which was ajar. He rushed forward, 
pistol in hand, and pushed it wide open. 

On the l)ed, a small affair of the four poster type, 
which he had never viewed before, the scene of the 
fair Asterie's vigils, stood a great lithe, lean panth- 
eress, clawing the counterpane and mattress with all 
four feet, and beating her fluft'y tail with a regular 
rhythm against the headboard. In her mouth was a 
huge rat, bleeding, which she had lately captured. 

I'efore he could recover from his amazement and 
shoot, tlie greycoated monster sprang over the foot- 
board, and through the window, carrying the sash 
with her. The other men appeared just in time to 
see the brute's long tail disappearing through the case- 
ment. 

Quickly turning, they seized the dogs by their col- 
lars and pushed them down the narrow winding stairs. 
Outside, in the fading light, the spoor could be seen 
at the side of the house where the lione^^s bounded 



354 ALLEGHENY EPISODES 

over the lawn, and down the bank, and crossed the 
stream on the ice. 

The dogs took up the scent, and were away, tlie 
hunters following gamely. The l)aying of the hounds 
echoed and re-echoed through the narrow valley ; by 
their volume the quarry was not far ahead. The snow 
was dee]) and very soft in the woods, and it was get- 
ting very dark. Perhaps the chase would have to be 
abandoned, and the pantb.er or spook, whichever it 
was, got away after all. 

Soon the l)arking of the dogs indicated that the 
beast had been run to cover. It was just at dark 
when tlie hunters saw the pantheress crouched in a 
rock oak at the forks, on the steep, stony face of the 
Keating Mountain, with the dogs leaping up fran- 
tically, the monster feline hissing and growling sav- 
agely. 

lake 1 [amersley was selected to give the death sliot. 
"taking" the Ijrute between the eyes She fell witlt a 
thud, and with a few convulsive kicks, expired on the 
snow. Major Stewardson built a military cam])rire 
while Ilamersley and \'-illon carefully skinned the 
carcass, and fed the flesh to the dogs. The Xinn-ods 
oft'ered the hide to the young Major as a tropiiy. but 
he declined with thanks, lie could not bear to have 
such a remembrance of a creature that had disported 
itself so recently on his loved one's little four poster 
bed. Perhaps it had partaken of lier spirit, from ab- 
sorbing the enxironnient where she had pined away 
to deatii. 



ALLEGHENY EPISODES 



355 



Ke only wanted to visit her grave, above the meet- 
ing of the waters, to drop there a few tears, a part of 
the boimdless water of life. His heart would always 
be a Haunted House. 

It was verging on the "witching hour," and an ugly 
winter drizzle had begun to fall, as the triumphant 
hunters ascended the soggy bank, and stood before 
the portals of Castlecloyd, undecided as to whetlier 
they should bivouac there until morning. Major 
Stewardson was muttering to himself the concluding 
lines of that Ode of Horace, 

"Xot thus forever can I lie and quake, 

Xor thus remain. 
Before thy threshold for thy love's sweet sake. 

Soaked bv the rain." 





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